PRAYAGRAJ: It was after 93 years that the airport at Prayagraj witnessed landing and take-off of an international flight. In 1932, flight was operated from Prayagraj to London and on Wednesday, an international flight departed from the airport.
Aircraft operated by Bhutan Airways arrived at Prayagraj airport with American billionaire and woman entrepreneur LaurenE Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The plane flew from Prayagraj to Bhutan, where Jobs will stay for the next few days.
On Feb 18, 1911, domestic commercial aviation began in India when Henri Piquet flew a Humber biplane car rying mail from a polo field at Allahabad (now Prayagraj) to Naini, approximately 6 miles away.
The construction of an airport at Allahabad with a dedicated airfield started in 1924. In 1931, the aerodrome at Allahabad was set up and foundation for air traffic control services was laid with appointment of an Indian Aerodrome Officer, specially trained at the airport in UK. It was among the first four international airports in the country, catering to international flights with direct services to London until 1932.
Besides this solo international flight, NRIs and foreign citizens from various countries have flown to Prayagraj for Maha Kumbh, hence, for the first time, employees of immigration department have been deployed at the airport in the new terminal building for the duration of Maha Kumbh.
When the Royal Bhutan Airlines plane landed on Wednesday morning, all employees were surprised as only a select few knew about its arrival. Later, it came to be known that Lauren Po well Jobs was to leave by the plane.
Before departing, airport director Mukesh Upadhyay met Powell. After immigration formalities were complete, Lauren Powell’s plane took off for Bhutan.
“I was surprised and equally impressed by the fact that an international flight has landed at our airport, following which we, the denizens of Prayagraj, can boast about it. After all, there may be very few airports in the country which operated a flight for London in 1932 and it is once again on the international flight map,” said Dr K D Tripathi, orthopaedic surgeon of the city, who was one of the passengers at the airport to see the aircraft of Bhutan Airways operate, on Wednesday.
Rajiv Mani, senior correspondent at The Times of India, Allahabad...
Read MoreRajiv Mani, senior correspondent at The Times of India, Allahabad, writes on higher education in the city. The institutions covered by him include Allahabad University and its 11 constituent colleges, and Allahabad Medical College. Apart from reading books, he is also fond of pets, gardening, photography, travelling and meeting people from all sections of society.
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