In 1911, domestic commercial aviation took birth in India when on 18 February, Henri Piquet, flying a Humber biplane, carried mail from Allahabad to Naini, approximately six miles apart.
The airport at Allahabad was built in 1919, with dedicated airfield construction taken up around 1924. It was among the first four international airports of the country. It catered international flights till 1946, with direct services to London till 1932.
In 1931, aerodrome at Allahabad was set up and foundation for Air Traffic control services was laid with the appointment of an Indian Aerodrome Officer, specially trained at UK at the airport.
In July 1933, Imperial Airways commenced operation of its flight on the Karachi-Jodhpur-Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Kolkata route, which ran until June 1940.
The airfield at Bamrauli was also used as one of the five compulsory stops of the MacRobertson Trophy Air Race which took place in October 1934.
From 1941 to early 2000s, the airport did not cater any regular commercial flight services. In early months of 2003, Air Sahara became the first carrier to re-introduce services at the airport with connectivity to cities like Delhi and Kolkata. However, the service soon became defunct following economic crisis. In 2005, Alliance Air started its Allahabad-Delhi flight service on its ATR-72 fleet, which continues to be operational to this date, with minor non-operational periods in between. In 2013, Spicejet introduced its operation on Delhi-Allahabad sector, along with Alliance Air commencing its Allahabad-Mumbai flight, both of which were closed down due to non-availability of ILS and Night Landing facility at the airport after running for a few months.
Seeking limited operational and structural facilities, construction of a new civilian terminal and installation of ILS system on existing runway began in January 2018. The newly constructed terminal was opened to public in January 2019 and since then is serving regular flight operations at Allahabad.
Structure
Runway
The airport is served by a single runway 12/30, which is long and wide.
Landing Amenities
The airport has ILS CAT-I compliant for landing during night, bad weather and foggy conditions. The Instrument Landing System was installed during 2018–2019 expansion phase, along with the construction of the new terminal. Other than enhancing safety for landing of flights in a visibility as low as 550 metres, installation of ILS finally allowed the airport to operate flights at night.
New terminal
Construction of a new terminal began in January 2018 and was completed in December 2018. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The terminal was constructed at a cost of. A total of was allocated for the construction of this terminal. The terminal is 6700 square meter; has a peak hour capacity of 300 passengers and four aircraft parking bays for Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. The building has an electric operated trolley gate on the link taxi track to segregate the operational area of Airports Authority of India and Indian Air Force. There has been use of fly ash bricks; double insulated door and the building is equipped with water harvesting and has a sewage treatment plant of its own.
