History of at

The History of
Air Transport
KOSTAS IATROU
Dedicated to my wife Evgenia and my sons George and Yianni
Copyright © 2020: Kostas Iatrou
First Edition: July 2020
Published by: Hermes – Air Transport Organisation
Graphic Design – Layout: Sophia Darviris
Material (either in whole or in part) from this publication may not be published, photocopied, rewritten, transferred
through any electronical or other means, without prior permission by the publisher.
Preface
C ommercial aviation recently celebrated its first centennial. Over the more than 100 years since the first
take off, aviation has witnessed challenges and changes that have made it a critical component of mod-
ern societies. Most importantly, air transport brings humans closer together, promoting peace and harmo-
ny through connectivity and social exchange.
A key role for Hermes Air Transport Organisation is to contribute to the development, progress and promo-
tion of air transport at the global level. This would not be possible without knowing the history and evolu-
tion of the industry.
Once a luxury service, affordable to only a few, aviation has evolved to become accessible to billions of peo-
ple. But how did this evolution occur? This book provides an updated timeline of the key moments of air
transport. It is based on the first aviation history book Hermes published in 2014 in partnership with ICAO,
ACI, CANSO & IATA.
I would like to express my appreciation to Professor Martin Dresner, Chair of the Hermes Report Committee,
for his important role in editing the contents of the book.
I would also like to thank Hermes members and partners who have helped to make Hermes a key organisa-
tion in the air transport field.
Finally, and most importantly, this book would not have been possible without the support of my family -
my wife, Evgenia, and our sons, George and Yiannis.
Dr Kostas Iatrou
Director General
Hermes – Air Transport Organisation
THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 3

Statistics
International and domestic (scheduled services)
Total Total Weight
Passenger- Seat-km Passenger Freight Mail tonne-km tonne-km load
Passengers km available load tonne-km tonne-km performed available factor
Year (millions) (millions) (millions) factor % (millions) (millions) (millions) (millions) %
1945 10,000
1946 20,000
1947 24,067 355 131 2,676
1948 26,600 552 172 3,145
1949 30,401 749 192 3,703
1950 35,467 58,624 61 1,012 202 4,426 7,605 58
1951 44,334 69,380 64 1,209 233 5,428 8,671 63
1952 50,668 80,043 63 1,327 263 6,176 10,175 61
1953 59,534 96,178 62 1,393 283 6,950 11,661 60
1954 65,868 108,514 61 1,472 334 7,724 13,091 59
1955 77,268 124,225 62 1,735 374 9,030 15,305 59
1956 89,935 143,437 63 1,971 404 10,400 17,537 59
1957 103,868 169,997 61 2,155 435 11,693 20,371 57
1958 107,668 183,735 59 2,208 475 12,213 21,693 56
1959 124,135 206,548 60 2,549 526 13,989 24,542 57
1960 138,069 233,225 59 2,839 617 15,650 28,300 55
1961 148,202 268,483 55 3,259 728 17,096 33,067 52
1962 156 164,669 308,370 53 3,824 819 19,163 37,723 51
1963 174 186,241 346,173 54 4,295 870 21,520 42,530 51
1964 200 216,598 387,475 56 5,192 920 25,093 49,009 51
1965 228 250,821 447,096 56 6,630 1,112 29,760 57,562 52
1966 258 290,200 503,819 58 7,877 1,547 34,908 65,989 53
1967 300 345,918 606,874 57 9,027 1,911 41,401 81,659 51
1968 341 400,573 750,137 53 11,491 2,406 47,735 98,019 49
1969 377 445,037 862,475 52 13,513 2,548 54,991 115,286 48
1970 400 484,200 880,364 55 14,635 2,780 60,655 121,311 50
1971 430 520,031 963,020 54 16,040 2,619 64,719 132,080 49
1972 472 589,195 1,033,676 57 17,516 2,509 72,939 140,267 52
1973 513 650,471 1,121,502 58 19,775 2,599 81,108 153,033 53
1974 540 690,801 1,170,848 59 20,804 2,604 86,380 159,962 54
1975 560 733,630 1,243,441 59 20,949 2,617 90,785 168,121 54
1976 604 803,325 1,338,875 60 23,296 2,735 99,864 181,570 55
1977 640 861,164 1,411,745 61 25,555 2,866 107,553 192,059 56
1978 711 985,172 1,515,650 65 28,060 2,947 121,535 205,991 59
1979 790 1,115,215 1,689,720 66 30,304 3,091 135,755 226,258 60
1980 784 1,145,326 1,817,977 63 31,789 3,323 140,099 241,550 58
1981 788 1,176,250 1,837,890 64 33,411 3,426 144,862 249,762 58
→
4 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

Statistics Cont’d
International and domestic (scheduled services)

Total Total Weight
Passenger- Seat-km Passenger Freight Mail tonne-km tonne-km load
Passengers km available load tonne-km tonne-km performed available factor
Year (millions) (millions) (millions) factor % (millions) (millions) (millions) (millions) %
1982 802 1,200,951 1,876,486 64 34,112 3,498 148,049 255,257 58
1983 836 1,251,391 1,955,298 64 37,967 3,613 156,488 260,813 60
1984 889 1,343,994 2,067,682 65 42,903 3,895 170,102 283,504 60
1985 942 1,438,073 2,178,899 66 43,074 3,977 179,118 298,529 60
1986 1,006 1,527,234 2,349,590 65 46,692 4,104 190,939 318,232 60
1987 1,077 1,670,794 2,493,722 67 52,249 4,248 209,842 344,004 61
1988 1,134 1,792,762 2,675,764 67 57,578 4,367 226,630 371,524 61
1989 1,173 1,871,643 2,752,416 68 61,839 4,576 238,868 391,587 61
1990 1,232 1,998,915 2,939,581 68 63,632 4,819 252,006 420,009 60
1991 1,200 1,946,943 2,949,914 66 63,378 4,583 247,218 419,013 59
1992 1,212 2,034,555 3,082,660 66 67,814 4,638 259,331 447,123 58
1993 1,208 2,056,936 3,164,516 65 74,121 4,726 268,408 462,772 58
1994 1,305 2,215,320 3,356,545 66 83,608 4,886 292,833 488,055 60
1995 1,380 2,372,607 3,541,205 67 90,046 5,087 314,795 524,659 60
1996 1,473 2,567,161 3,775,237 68 96,619 5,239 339,664 566,107 60
1997 1,542 2,716,056 3,936,314 69 111,402 5,412 368,536 604,157 61
1998 1,557 2,773,094 4,078,079 68 110,288 5,206 373,327 622,211 60
1999 1,654 2,953,345 4,280,210 69 117,678 5,170 396,846 661,410 60
2000 1,753 3,183,706 4,484,092 71 127,798 5,470 429,784 704,565 61
2001 1,720 3,089,899 4,464,679 69 119,874 4,803 413,153 710,100 59
2002 1,718 3,105,591 4,355,201 71 129,655 4,134 422,701 703,839 60
2003 1,773 3,162,758 4,418,693 72 136,060 4,098 433,930 724,582 60
2004 1,979 3,608,707 4,917,087 73 150,482 4,143 488,606 794,828 61
2005 2,119 3,897,404 5,200,507 75 154,244 4,213 519,388 839,812 62
2006 2,238 4,140,544 5,461,374 76 164,432 4,103 551,814 880,141 63
2007 2,434 4,480,619 5,833,780 77 172,333 4,078 588,423 938,205 63
2008 2,470 4,570,132 6,019,040 76 170,677 4,537 598,137 963,385 62
2009 2,488 4,561,413 5,948,503 77 155,819 4,620 577,747 931,795 62
2010 2,705 4,924,229 6,299,370 78 186,631 4,855 645,596 966,133 67
2011 2,870 5,248,140 6,727,814 78 187,191 5,006 677,631 1,024,558 66
2012 3,004 5,528,880 7,010,807 79 185,239 5,195 701,269 1,055,369 66
2013 3,138 5,832,564 7,338,216 79 185,975 5,586 731,033 1,093,991 67
2014 3,316 6,181,177 7,753,755 80 194,633 6,076 773,895 1,156,102 67
2015 3,556 6,644,666 8,281,130 80 197,131 6,549 821,174 1,222,698 67
2016 3,794 7,135,773 8,887,995 80 204,187 6,681 871,639 1,304,086 67
2017 4,062 7,707,118 9,477,045 81 222,996 7,449 945,904 1,385,428 68
2018 4,322 8,257,635 10,105,144 82 230,967 7,393 1,004,763 1,452,363 69
Source.— ICAO Air Transport Reporting Form A and A-S plus ICAO estimates.

1903 1909 Cont’d
December August | C ollege Park Airport (KCGS), in the

17 December | Wright brothers fly first airplane. city of College Park, Maryland, USA is
established when Wilbur Wright arrived
at the field to train two military officers
in the US Army.
October
16 October | T he world’s first commercial airline,
DELAG is established.
Source: John T. Daniels
1906 1910
October
23 October | F irst flight of Santos Dumont plane May
14bis in Paris. 7 May | F irst aircraft flight simulator: The aircraft
manufacturer, Antoinette, completed
the construction of a simulator to
teach pupils to fly their monoplanes.
1908
May
14 May | F irst airplane passenger: Charles W.
Furnas, with pilot Wilbur Wright.
17 May | F irst use of the modern aircraft flight Source: Antoinette Aircraft Company
control system: Blériot VIII first took to June
the air using a joystick for elevator/ai- 25 June | A ero Joint Stock Company is formed.
leron control, and a pivoted foot-bar for
rudder control. August
27 August | F irst air-to-ground and ground-to-air
radio communications: Frederick Walker
Baldwin and Douglas McCurdy sent a
1909 Morse radio message “Another chapter

in aerial achievement is recorded in the
sending of this wireless message from
an aeroplane in flight” from a Curtiss
biplane while in flight, which was
January received by a nearby ground station.
7 January | F irst official pilot’s licence issued: Issued
November
by the Aéro Club de France, licence
number 1 is issued to Louis Blériot. 7 November | T he first commercial transport flight
with an airplane take place when Phil
March O. Parmalee carried two bolts of silk
2 March | Creation of Compagnie Générale Trans- on his Wright Model B from Dayton to
aérienne the first French airline. Columbus, Ohio.

1911 1913 Cont’d
January August
10 January | T he world’s second oldest commercial 30 August | E lmer A. Sperry develops the
airport, Hamburg Airport is born. gyroscopic compass and gyroscopic
stabilizer.
1912 1914
Bucharest Baneasa Aurel Vlaicu International
airport officially becomes an airport. January | S ikorsky Ilya Mourometz first flight.
1 January | I n the morning, the first scheduled
commercial airline flight took to the air.
January | Frank E. Boland introduces his air-speed Taking off from St Petersburg, Florida,
meter. and flying to Tampa, the Benoist flying
March | Heinrich Kubis begins his career as boat was piloted by Tony Jannus, with
a flight attendant for DELAG. former mayor of St Petersburg, Abram C
Pheil, as his passenger. This service ran
until 5 May.
Source: AIRSHIPS.NET
1913 February
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida
12 February | S ikorsky Ilya Mourometz takes off with

Bremen Airport is established. 16 passengers aboard, marking a record
St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line for number of passengers carried.
is established. June
Benoist flying boat first flight. 30 June
to 11 July | S ikorsky Ilya Mourometz sets a world
record by making a trip from Saint
May Petersburg to Kiev and back.
13 May | The world’s first four engine, the Le
Grand, makes its first flight in the hands
of Igor Sikorsky.

1916 1917
Sperry Instruments Corporation introduces First flight of AEG J.I.
advanced aircraft instruments, including
compass, air speed indicator, altimeter, bank
indicator, angle of attack and stall warning. May
9 May |W
illiam Boeing changes the name of
The Loughead brothers establish the Loughead Pacific Aero Products to the Boeing
Aircraft Manufacturing Company. Airplane Co.
“Giovan Battista Pastine” Ciampino airport is December
inaugurated on the Via Appia. 17 December | D eutsche Luft-Reederei (DLR) is estab-
lished.
March | T he First Conference of Pan-American

Aeronautics recommended to the
American republics that consideration
be given to unifying their aerial
legislation to formulate an international
1918
air code.
June April
15 June |W
illiam Boeing takes Bluebill, the first B 1 April | A ustria establishes the world’s first
& W, on its maiden flight. regular international air connection
when it opens its route between Vienna
and Kiev. Initially, this serves only to
transport airmail.
July
15 July | F irst flight of Felixstowe F5L.
August
18 August | P ost Office Department launches the
first regular airmail service between
College Park, Md. and Chicago.
October
Source: Boeing 29 October | D et Danske Luftfartselskab A/S (DDL),
SAS’s Danish parent company, is
founded.
July
November
15 July |W
illiam Boeing incorporates Pacific Aero
1 November | C reation of the Société des Lignes
Products Co.
Aériennes Latécoère.
August | Airco DH.4 first flight.
September
19 September | T he first military aircraft land in
Schiphol marking the start of Schiphol’s
service as a military airfield.
October
5 October | G eorge Holt Thomas founds the first
British airline, Aircraft and Transport
and Travel Ltd. Source: Air France

1919
First flight of: March | L ignes Aérienns Latécoère establishes
-Airco DH.16. the first line between Europe and Africa.
-Nieuport-Delage NiD 30. 6 March | A special Aeronautical Commission of the
-Sablatnig P.III. Peace Conference is formed under the
Paris Le Bourget starts commercial operations. auspices of the Peace Conference. At the
first meeting, the Commission agrees
to produce a set of basic principles
in preparing the Convention and its
Annexes.
April
6 April | C ustoms examination of airline begins
at Brussels.
13 April | V ickers Vimy Commercial first flight.
30 April | C ivil flying in Britain is formally
restored with the issue of Air Navigation
Regulations in 1919, which authorise
civil flying from 1 May.
Courtesy “Airports in the first 100 years of flight” (2003)

June
14 to 15 June | F irst non-stop transatlantic flight: John
Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport is the first Alcock and Arthur Brown flew a Vickers
airport in South America. The first commercial Vimy from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to
airline arrives in the Americas that year, SCADTA. Clifden, Ireland.
25 June | J unkers F 13, the world’s first all-metal
January | F irst flight of Farman F.60 Goliath. transport aircraft and the world’s
first self-supporting cabin low-wing
8 January | Civil aviation resumes in Germany.
transport, first flight.
31 January | T he UK Air Ministry issue its first
aviation meteorological report.
February
5 February | T he world’s first regular passenger
airline service commences between
Berlin and Weimar, operated by
Deutsche Luft-Reederei (DLR).
8 February | Henry Farman carries eleven paying Source: Junkers
passengers in a Farman F.60 from
Paris to London on the world’s first 25 June | G ordon Selfridge, founder of the
international commercial flight, initially Selfridge’s department store, becomes
known as the Lignes Aériennes Farman. the first businessman to charter an
12 February | T he UK Department of Civil Aviation is aeroplane exclusively for business use.
formed at the Air Ministry. July
1 July |H
ounslow Heath Aerodrome begins
operating scheduled international
commercial services. First flight is to
Paris Le Bourget.

1919 Cont’d
21 July | F okker founds Hollands’ first aircraft 11 October | T he first airline meals are served by
factory: The Netherlands Aircraft Handley Page Transport.
Factory.
11 October | T he Grand Council of Geneva votes for a
August 137-hectare “airfield” to be constructed
25 to 28 in the commune of Meyrin.
August | R epresentatives of five air transport 13 October | T he International Air Convention (Paris
companies from Denmark, Germany, Convention) is signed by 27 states and
Great Britain, Norway and Sweden meet lays down the principles and rules for air
at The Hague and sign an agreement traffic, which would serve as the basis
to form the International Air Traffic for uniform international regulations
Association (IATA). and the creation of an International
25 August | The world’s first scheduled international Commission for Air Navigation (ICAN).
service takes place when single-engine
De Havilland DH4A of Air Transport and 30 October | T he UK Advisory Committee on Civil
Travel flies from Hounslow to Paris Aviation recommends the establishment
carrying one passenger. of certain main trunk routes connecting
Canada, Newfoundland, South Africa,
India, Australia and New Zealand to the
UK by air.
November | Air Transport and Travel and Compagnie
générale transaérienne join forces to
operate London-Paris services.
December | The Handley Page Type W is introduced on
the London to Paris route and becomes
the first civil airliner with a lavatory to be
used on a regular passenger service.
Source: British Airways
2 December | H
andley Page Type W first flight.
5 December | S ociedad Colombo Alemana de
26 August |H
andley Page Transport carries the first Transporte Aéreo, SCADTA is founded.
two women to fly on an airline service,
between England and France. 6 December | T he first experimental airmail flight in
China takes place between Peking and
October | F okker F.II first flight. It is the first Tientsin (now called Beijing and Tianjin)
commercial aircraft from the Fokker with a Handley Page.
Aircraft Company.
10 December | T he first flight from the UK to Australia
7 October | Dutch Royal Airlines for the Netherlands
is completed when Ross and Keith
and its Colonies (Koninklijke Luchtvaart
Smith land their Vickers Vimy at Darwin.
Maatschappij voor Nederland en
Koloniën | KLM) is founded. 27 December | T he Boeing Airplane Co. B-1 mail plane,
the first Boeing-designed commercial
aircraft, makes its first flight.

1920
Aero Rt. is merged with MAEFORT in Hungary. September | G eoffrey de Havilland creates the de
DDL is listed on the Copenhagen Stock Market. Havilland Aircraft Company.
November
1 November | T he U.S. Post Office awards a contract
January for the first international airmail to
7 January | T he Boeing BB-1 seaplane makes its Aeromarine. In addition, Aeromarine be-
first flight. comes the first scheduled U.S. interna-
tional passenger airline (Key West to
February Havana).
25 February | Alan A. Griffith’s analysis of the process
of brittle fracture is published.
25 February | Croydon Airport is the first airport in the
world to introduce air traffic control.
Source: NATS
March | Handley Page Transport in Cricklewood

installs the first radio direction-finding
equipment in an aircraft.
29 March | London’s airport is moved from Houn-
slow Heath to the much larger and bet-
ter equipped airfield of Croydon Aero-
drome.
April
23 April | La Compagnie Franco-Roumaine is es-
tablished.
May
17 May | Air Transport and Travel, together with
KLM, inaugurate Croydon to Amsterdam
service. 16 November | P apers formally establishing Queens-
land and Northern Territory Aerial Ser-
July vices Ltd (Qantas) are signed.
1 July | Belgium establishes the first internal 19 November | S ydney Airport is founded by Nigel Love.
air service in any European colony with
the Lara-Ligne Aérienne Roi Albert in the December
Belgian Congo. 12 December | A ir Transport and Travel cease its opera-
tions.
22 July | Donald W. Douglas and David R. Davis
form the Davis Douglas Co. 12 December | B lériot-SPAD S.33 first flight.

1921
January | The first automatic pilot system, known June
as the Aveline Stabilizer, is installed 1 June | A ir to ground traffic control is estab-
in a British aircraft by Handley Page lished, when air patrols report informa-
Transport. tion to the police and the Automobile
February Association on Derby Day.
24 February | T he first wholly Douglas-designed, 8 June | A USD-9A, a modified Airco DH.9A, flies
Douglas-built aircraft, The Cloudster, with a pressurised compartment in
makes its first flight. It is the first air- place of the original one cockpits.
plane to lift a useful load exceeding its 16 June | B lériot-SPAD S.46 first flight.
own weight.
Summer | F irst flight of Dornier Komet I.
July | D onald W. Douglas incorporates The
Douglas Co.
August | F irst in-flight movie. Aeromarine shows
a movie promoting Chicago (HOWDY
CHICAGO).
Late | A irco DH.9C first flight.
December | A eromarine: World’s first airline
Source: Boeing baggage label.
28 February | D ue to subsidised European competi-

tion, all British airlines cease opera-
tions.
March
19 March | A temporary UK government subsidy is
granted, enabling British air services to
restart. Handley Page Transport oper-
ates the first subsidised London to Paris
service.
April | Fokker F.III first flight.
The only preserved copy of Aeromarine West Indies Airways’ baggage label
from December 1920 the world’s first. Removed from an old suitcase in the
1940s, its original background colour was light blue.
(Image from “Nostalgia Panamericana” by Don Thomas, 1987)
Source: Les Ailes newspaper

1922
Experimental Design Bureau Tupolev is by Grands Express, from Le Bourget in
established headed by Andrey N. Tupolev. France to Croydon.
First permanent airport and commercial terminal July
solely for commercial aviation opens at Flughafen 11 July | I nternational Air Convention and ICAN
Devau. enter into force.
Courtesy “Airports in the first 100 years of flight” (2003) Source: ICAO
August
January 27 August | P assengers on a flight from Geneva to
1 January | Instone introduces uniforms for pilots Paris can hear a concert broadcast by
and staff, believed to be the first airline radio on board.
service uniforms. October
April 2 October | T he need for a register classifying air-
2 April | T he Daimler Airway begins operations craft is encouraged by the French Gov-
from Croydon to Paris using ‘cabin boys’ ernment by a Decree which instructs
on their aircraft. the Bureau Veritas to exercise technical
control in construction and operation of
7 April | T he first airliner collision takes place French civil aircraft.
when a French Farman Goliath of Grands
Express flies into the path of a de Havil- November
land DH.18 operated by Daimler Airways. 12 November | F ranco-Roumaine inaugurates the first
Traffic density leads to a mid-air colli- transcontinental air passenger service:
sion. Flying rules become a necessity. Paris – Strasbourg – Prague – Warsaw –
Vienna – Budapest – Belgrade – Bucha-
May | R adio Position Fixing used in Croydon
rest (Baneasa) – Istanbul.
Airport-based procedure is approved
by the Air Ministry with associated
NOTAM. This is a new system using
aircraft radio transmissions to fix an
aircraft’s position- an essential first
step in establishing a radio based global
air navigation network. G.J.H “Jimmy”
Jeffs, Croydon Civilian Air Traffic
Officer, is one of the great innovators
in developing the new discipline. Issued
with Air Traffic Control Licence No.1.
June
9 June | The first airliner night flight is made Source: www.timetableimages.com

1923
First flight of Farman F.120. May
Construcciones Aeronauticas S.A. (CASA) is 23 May | S abena is founded.
founded. June
Fred Mockford, Croydon’s Senior Radio Officer, 23 June |H
andley Page Transport Ltd carries 79
coined the distress phrase “Mayday, Mayday, passengers in one day.
Mayday”.
July
Boston Municipal Airport’s, now Boston-Logan’s,
first runways are laid down in a T-shape, a first in 30 July | d e Havilland DH.50 first flight.
runway design. August
The first airport building at Brussels is built of 21 August | Ground-mounted electric beacons are
wooden packing cases. In December of the same first used in USA to illuminate flight di-
year, Sabena receives permission to build a new rection.
airport terminal. [1] September
12 September | T he charter establishing the company
March Aero O/Y is signed in Helsinki.
17 March | Open joint stock “DOBROLET” (The Rus- October
sian Society for Voluntary Air Fleet) is
established. 6 October | C zechoslovak State Airlines is founded.
[1] Courtesy “Airports in the first 100 years of flight” (2003)

1924
The Huff Daland Dusters crop-dusting operation, – Alemana de Transporte Aéreo –
a predecessor to Delta Air Lines, is founded in SCADTA to create the Condor Syndikat.
Macon, Ga. This is the world’s first commercial 26 May | T upolev ANT-2 first flight. The first do-
agricultural flying company. mestic all-metal aircraft.
A four-passenger DH.50 with an enclosed cabin is
introduced by Qantas on the Charleville-Cloncurry
run, marking the introduction of post-war
commercial aircraft to Australia.
March
31 March | I mperial Airways is incorporated. The
new airline is formed from the fleets of
Source: Tupolev
The Instone Airline Limited, The Daimler
Airway, Handley Page Transport Limited June
and British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd 2 June | A B Aerotransport (ABA) commences op-
(operating a Southampton to Guernsey erations.
flying boat service).
July
April
1 July | T he U.S. Post Office Department opens
11 April | Fokker F-VII first flight. regular day-and-night air-mail service
23 April | Stout 2-AT Pullman first flight, the first between New York and San Francisco.
all-metal aircraft certified in America. August | S avoia-Marchetti S.55 first flight.
May October
5 May | T he German airline Deutsche Aero Lloyd 1 October | K LM initiates its first intercontinental
establishes a partnership with the flight, from Amsterdam to Batavia
Colombian company Sociedad Colombo (Colonial Jakarta) in a Fokker F-VII.
Source: Dana Bell, 2008,

European Air Services

1925
First flight of Fokker Universal.
Cleveland Airport (CLE) opens and becomes the
first municipal airport in the U.S.
February [1]
2 February | T he U.S. Air Mail Act, commonly known
Source: Atlanta airport
as the Kelly Act, provides for transpor-
July
tation of mail based on contracts be-
tween the Post Office Department and 6 July | F irst Douglas mail plane, the M-1, starts
individual air carriers. manufacturer’s flight trials.
7 July | T he Boeing Model 40 mail plane makes
10 February | Dornier Merkur I first flight.
its first flight.
March | A number of German airlines begin to of-
fer in-flight movies in the shape of short
single-reel silent films projected onto a
small screen at the front of the cabin.
18 to 19
March | The 13th General Meeting of the Inter-
national Air Traffic Association (IATA)
reviews the excessive formalities and
restrictions imposed by European Cus-
toms Administrations with respect to
Source: Boeing
aircraft operating international ser-
13 July |W
estern Air Express is founded in Los
vices and concludes that this situa-
Angeles.
tion greatly hampers the development
of commercial aviation. A Resolution is August
adopted to approach the International 25 to 26
Chamber of Commerce (ICC) with a view August | T he 14th General Meeting of the Inter-
to securing its collaboration toward the national Air Traffic Association (IATA)
removal of these difficulties. Also ad- concludes that there is a need to col-
opted, a Resolution indicating that chil- laborate with international institutions
dren under three years of age will be interested in matters pertaining to the
development of scheduled international
carried free, provided that such children
air transport services.
are taken on the knees of the passenger
who accompanies them and do not oc- October
cupy a separate seat. 27 October
to 6 November | The First International Conference of
April Private Air Law is convened in Paris to
16 April | The Mayor of Atlanta signs a five-year examine the question of the responsi-
lease on an abandoned auto racetrack bility of the airlines and to undertake
and commits the City to developing it the immense work of the coding of pri-
into an airfield. Flights are operational vate air law; the final protocol of this
in 1926. [1] Conference asks for the creation of a
special committee of experts (Comité
20 April | Copenhagen Airport is inaugurated.
International Technique d’Experts Ju-
Mid | Junkers G 24 first flight. ridiques Aériens, C.I.T.E.J.A.).

1926
First flight of Buhl Airster C-A3. 31 May | T he International Federation of Freight
Forwarders Associations (FIATA) is
“Radio operators” are put in charge of radio
founded.
transmissions.
June
Sleeper seats are introduced by Luft Hansa,
known as the “flying sleeping car”, on trunk 11 June | T he Ford Trimotor makes its first flight.
routes from Berlin to London, Malmo and Vienna. August
11 August | T he “US Airways Division” is created - an
early form of an ATS Department.
January
6 January | Founding of “Deutsche Luft Hansa AG”. September
1 September | C ol. Lewis Brittin founds Northwest Air-
25 January | Stinson Detroiter first flight.
ways.
March
30 September | d e Havilland DH.66 Hercules first flight.
13 March | A lan Alan Cobham completes Imperial
Airways’ route survey that began October | T he Ibero-American Convention (also
on 16 November with a flight from called the Madrid Convention) is created.
the UK to Cape Town and back in the 1 October | A lan Cobham completes 28,000 miles in
Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar-powered 78 days with 320 hours flying time. He
DH.50J G-EBFO. The outward flight left Melbourne on 29 August.
was London – Paris – Marseille – Pisa November
– Taranto – Athens – Sollum – Cairo –
Luxor – Assuan – Wadi Halfa – Atbara – 2 November | N
orthwest introduces nation’s first
Khartoum – Malakal – Mongalla – Jinja closed-cabin commercial plane: the
– Kisumu – Tabora – Abercorn – Ndola – 3-passenger Stinson Detroiter.
Broken Hill – Livingstone – Bulawayo – December | A llan Lockheed officially forms the
Pretoria – Johannesburg – Kimberley – Lockheed Aircraft Company.
Blomfontein – Cape Town. 7 December | T he first airway light beacon erected by
the Aeronautics Branch begins opera-
tion.
7 December | T he U.S. Aeronautics Branch makes its
first official airworthiness inspection of
an American aircraft.
27 December | I mperial Airways DH.66 Hercules leaves
Croydon for a survey flight to India. The
flying time from Croydon to Delhi was
62 hours 27 minutes.
31 December | T he first Air Commerce Regulations of
the Aeronautics Branch, U.S. Depart-
ment of Commerce, become effective.
The regulations require all aircraft en-
May gaged in interstate or foreign com-
20 May | U.S. President signs into law the Air merce to be licensed and marked with
Commerce Act, which places the admin- an assigned identification number.
istration of commercial aeronautics un- Commercial pilots are classed as either
der the Department of Commerce. transport or industrial.

1927
Light beacons are installed. Permanent tracks for June
navigation start to be established. 4 to 5 June | Charles A. Levine becomes the first per-
Western is the first U.S. airline to pay a cash son to cross the Atlantic by airplane as
dividend to stockholders. a passenger when he flies nonstop be-
tween New York and Germany.
February 15 June | U .S. businessman Van Lear Black char-

ters a KLM Fokker F.VIIa for a flight from
18 to 19 the Netherlands to Batavia, the first in-
February | T he 17th AGM of the International Air ternational charter flight.
Traffic Association (IATA) adopts the
first standard format of an internation- 28 June | I beria, Compania Aérea de Transporte, is
al air ticket and consignment note (air formally founded.
waybill). 30 June | B oeing Air Transport (BAT), predecessor
March to United Airlines, is founded.
14 March | Pan American World Airways is founded.
30 June | T he U.S. Aeronautics Branch announces
29 March | T he Aeronautics Branch issues Aircraft that its first airways strip map is avail-
Type Certificate No. 1 to the Buhl Airster able for purchase.
C-A3.
September
April
1 September | A merican Railway Express and major
28 April | Spirit of St. Louis first flight.
airlines begin air cargo express opera-
May tions.
1 May | T he luxury Silver Wing launches service 1 to 10
to Paris. Service is introduced by Impe- September | F irst International Air Post Congress.
rial Airways with a comfortable recog- This Conference results in an agreement
nisable airliner cabin, a four-course lun- that establishes airline companies as
cheon and a bar service. officially-recognized carriers of mail.
4 May | D et Norske Luftfartselskap A/S (DNL), Another provision agreed upon is that
SAS’s Norwegian parent company is par avion labels should have a blue co-
founded. lour.
20 to 21 May | Charles A. Lindbergh makes the first 10 September | T he first rapid transit station to connect
nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic in an airport with a mass transit system is
an airplane, a Ryan monoplane dubbed the Berlin U-Bahn’s and is built to pro-
the Spirit of St. Louis. He flew from vide direct access to Berlin Tempelhof
Roosevelt Field, Long Island, N.Y., to Le Airport.
Bourget Field, Paris, France, in 33 hours October | Imperial Airways introduces second
29 minutes. class travel on the Paris route without
cabin service and with a slower flying
time.
28 October | P an American Airways begins regular
airmail service between Key West and
Havana. It is also the first U.S. airline to
operate land aircraft over water on a
regular schedule.
Source: Wordpress.com

1928
Pan American is the first U.S. airline to develop an 31 May
airport and airways traffic control system, the to 9 June | A ustralian pilots Charles E. Kingsford-
first U.S. airline to carry emergency life-saving Smith and Charles T. P. Ulm, make the
equipment, and the first U.S. airline to order and first transpacific crossing by air. They
purchase aircraft built to its own specifications, fly from Oakland, Calif., to Brisbane,
with the Sikorsky S-38 flying boat. Australia, with stopovers at Hawaii and
the Fiji Islands, in a modified Fokker
The world’s first airport hotel opens at London F.VII.
Croydon Airport. It is called The Aerodrome Hotel.
June
17 to 18 June | W
ilmer Stultz pilots a pontoon-equipped
February Fokker from Newfoundland to Wales on
14 February | T he first Short S.8 Calcutta flying boat the first nonstop transatlantic flight by
G-EBVG built for Imperial Airways makes a seaplane. He is accompanied by a me-
its first flight at Rochester. chanic and by Amelia Earhart, the first
woman transatlantic air passenger.
19 February | Marga von Etzdorf becomes the first fe-
male co-pilot at Luft Hansa. 30 June | T he U.S. Commerce Department’s Aero-
nautics Branch establishes a five-mem-
20 February | The Pan American Convention on Air ber Aircraft Accident Board and suc-
Navigation (also called the Havana Con- ceeds in developing a practical radio
vention) is signed in Havana, with claus- navigation beacon system.
es that largely enable US-owned airlines
to freely operate services within North July
and South America. This Pan-American 1 July | T he U.S. Commerce Department begins
Agreement is a certain success. Signed using teletype machines to transmit
by 21 States; it is ratified by 16 of them. aviation weather information.
May 27 July | Irish-born aviator Mary, Lady Heath is
appointed as a co-pilot with KLM.
25 May | Sikorsky S-38 first flight.
September
27 May | Winnipeg Airport opens. This is Canada’s
first international airport. 18 September | T he Graf Zeppelin, the most successful
rigid airship ever built, makes its first
flight.
28 September | F irst flight of Consolidated Commodore.
October
1 October | N
ewark, the first major airport in the
New York metropolitan area, opens.
December
29 December | A single, self-governing, state enter-
prise is founded and named LOT Airlines
Source: Western Canada Aviation Museum Ltd. (Linje Lotnicze LOT Sp. z o.o.)

1929
The Link Trainer, the first electro-mechanical August
flight simulator, was invented. 8 to 29 August | T he Graf Zeppelin made the first round-
William Green develop the first automatic pilot the-world flight by a rigid airship, leav-
used on an airliner. ing from and returning to Lakehurst,
N.J., in 21 days 7 hours 34 minutes.
IATA has grown from the original five members
to 23 airlines. In 1929 five committees exist: September | K LM starts regular, scheduled service
Legal, Postal, Radiotelegraphic, Traffic and Cash between Amsterdam and Batavia. Until
Examination. the outbreak of the Second World War,
this was the world’s longest-distance
UPS becomes the first package delivery company scheduled service.
to provide air service.
12 September | 1 8-passenger Boeing Model 80A makes
The city of St Louis hires the first U.S. air traffic its first flight.
controller. Archie League - pioneers the world of
ATC with a red and a checkered flag. 24 September | A t Mitchel Field, N.Y., Army Lt. James H.
Doolittle becomes the first pilot to use
only instrument guidance to take-off,
January fly a set course, and land.
30 January | I nter-Island Airways is incorporated October
(predecessor of Hawaiian Airlines). 1 October | A llocation of radio frequencies by the
March U.S. Federal Radio Commission clear the
5 March | Linea Aerea Nacional de Chile (LAN) is way for air transport companies to de-
founded. velop a communications network sup-
plementing Federal facilities.
30 March | I mperial Airways inaugurates its first
through service from Britain to India 8 October | C ubana is founded.
(Karachi). 12 October |W
arsaw Convention, formally entitled
June Convention for the Unification of Certain
17 June | Delta’s first passenger flight carries one Rules Relating to International Carriage
pilot and up to five passengers. by Air, is signed by 23 States. This con-
July vention establishes the international li-
ability for air carriers and the monetary
7 July | T ranscontinental Air Transport, becomes
limits for damage, delay and loss.
the first airline to offer coast-to-coast
travel, with combination air-and-rail 21 October | A record flight with 169 people on board
service. is made with a Dornier Do X (it took 20
12 July | Chief Pilot Richard Wagner takes off for years to break this record).
the first flight with the Dornier Do X. December
18 December | T he first IATA International Scheduling
Conference to coordinate airline sched-
ules and to standardize scheduling in-
formation is held in Berlin.
Source: German Federal Archives - Georg Pahl

1930
The first airplane kitchen is invented (patented) May
by Werner Sell (Georg Robert Werner Sell) of 15 May | E llen Church, a registered nurse, joins
Germany. the crew of the Boeing Model 80A head-
A sound-locator acoustic system for detection of ed to San Francisco. She is the first
aircraft in-flight is developed. world’s female flight attendant.
Mexicana becomes the first international airline
to unite two foreign destinations: Brownsville and
Guatemala.
Pan American is the first U.S. airline to offer
international air express service.
TWA is the first airline:
- to require that its pilots have a flight plan, flight
log, flight clearance and cockpit check lists.
-to fly four-engine aircraft, when the Fokker F-32
is put into scheduled service.
-to organize a weather department and employ a
professional meteorologist.
-to develop the first automatic trailing wire
antenna release device and first the elastic de-
icible radio beacon antenna.
Western uses the first directional radio compass
for air navigation, and with the Boeing Aircraft
Company, develops and uses the first air-to-
ground radio.
The world’s first radio-equipped Air Traffic
Source: Boeing
Control Tower regulating arrivals, departures and
surface movement of aircraft at a specific airport, 15 May | T he U.S. Department of Commerce re-
opens in Cleveland. Also the first runway lighting quires airlines to obtain a certificate of
appears at Cleveland Municipal Airport. authority to operate if they engage in
interstate passenger service.
Burbank California Airport is inaugurated - one of
the first examples of the ‘simple terminal’ design, October
with a standalone building separated from the 13 October | J unkers Ju 52/1m first flight.
hangars.
25 October | T WA is the first airline to offer all-air
transcontinental service lasting 36 hours,
with an overnight stop in Kansas City.
November
14 November | H
andley Page H.P.42 first flight.
December
5 December | F okker F.XII first flight.
31 December | A irworthiness regulations for aircraft
components and accessories become
Source: Burbank Bob Hope Airport effective in U.S.
THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 21

1931
First flight of Lockheed Model 9 Orion, the first
airliner to have retractable landing gear.
Airport codes are introduced. The airports with
two-letter weather station codes receive an X
on the end (LA becomes LAX and Portland’s PD
becomes PDX), and every subsequent airport is
given three letters.
Although there is only one passenger fare on a
given route, a round trip discount is introduced.
Pan American is the first U.S. airline to develop Source: British Airways
and operate four-engine flying boats, its first
Clippers, Sikorsky S-40 fleet. 14 June | A erovias Nacionales de Colombia S.A.
- Avianca is constituted as a result of
the merger of SCADTA and the Servicio
February Aéreo Colombiano – SACO.
12 February | A n amendment to existing regulations July | D avid Behncke meets with 24 “key men”
in the US covering interstate airline op- in Chicago to officially form ALPA.
erations requires a co-pilot on all air- August
craft flying a schedule of five or more 6 August | T WA is the first airline to inaugurate car-
hours with eight or more passengers. go service, with a shipment of livestock
21 February | In Peru, a pilot of Faucett Aviation from St. Louis to Newark.
transport is forced to deviate from his 7 August | Sikorsky S-40 first flight.
planned flight path under threat from
a passenger with a weapon. This is the 14 August | T upolev ANT-14 first flight. It has been
first recorded hijacking. credited as Russia’s first all-metal air-
craft, with a corrosion-resistant-steel
24 February | Short S17 Kent first flight. structure.
March
26 March | Swissair is formed following the merger
of Balair and Ad Astra.
28 March | B oeing Air Transport, National Air Trans-
port, Varney Airlines and Pacific Air
Transport combine as United Air Lines,
providing coast-to-coast passenger ser-
vice and mail service. It takes 27 hours
to fly the route, one way.
Source: Wikipedia
June
October
11 June | T he Handley Page H.P.42 four-engine bi-
1 October | T he U.S. Department of Commerce pro-
plane, a notable aircraft, is introduced
mulgates a regulation prescribing a
by Imperial Airways on the Croydon to
cockpit crew complement of two, a pi-
Paris route.
lot and co-pilot, on all scheduled air
transports capable of carrying fifteen
or more passengers or having a gross
takeoff weight of 15,000 pounds or
more.
22 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

1932
The company that ultimately becomes Alaska 30 April | T he International Aeronautical Q Code,
Airlines is born when Linious “Mac” McGee paints used in air traffic communications
“McGee Airways” on the side of a three-passenger throughout the world, is established at
Stinson and starts flying out of Anchorage. a meeting in London, U.K.
May
7 May | E gyptair is established.
9 May | C apt. A. F. Hegenberger flies without a
check pilot to make the first blind solo
flight on instruments only, at Dayton,
Ohio.
21 May |W
estern is the first airline with airborne
television reception (a one-time event).
The broadcast, from an experimental TV
Source: Alaska Airlines
station, features a then unknown ac-
Pan American becomes the first airline to sell all- tress named Loretta Young.
expense international air tour packages. June
RAF Sharjah opens. It is the first airport in the UAE 6 June | A rmstrong Whitworth Atalanta A.W.15
and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of first flight.
the Gulf, and is used by Imperial Airways. 30 June | F okker F.XVIII first flight.
October
February 4 October | K harkov KhAI-1’s first flight. It is the
25 February | T he Central Administration of the Civil first European passenger transport air-
Air Fleet is founded and “Aeroflot” is ad- craft to feature retractable undercar-
opted as the official abbreviation of the riage.
country’s civil aviation service. November
April | Junkers Ju 52/3m first flight. [1] 24 November | d e Havilland Dragon DH.84 first flight.
[1] Source: Kostas Iatrou
THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT| 23

1933
A code for seat reservations comes into general – The Convention for the Unification
use. of Certain Rules Relating to Damage
Caused by Foreign Aircraft to Third
TWA is the first airline to develop and use Parties on the Surface;
advanced “flight planning” for every flight, based – The Convention for the Unification of
on a thorough analysis of weather and overall Certain Rules Relating to the Precau-
operating conditions. tionary Arrest of Aircraft.
20 May | T he “State Airlines Administration” oper-
January ating under the supervision of the Min-
3 January | Curtiss T-32 Condor II first flight. istry of National Defense is established.
February July
8 February | First flight of Boeing Model 247. 1 July | The first Douglas airliner, the DC-1,
makes its first flight.
1 July | Air France and Deutsche Luft Hansa in-
augurate a twice-weekly pool service
across the South Atlantic as the volume
of airmail continues to grow.
11 July | D ewoitine D.332 first flight.
August
18 August | S hort Scion first flight.
October
Source: Boeing 7 October | A ir France is officially inaugurated at
13 February | T he Warsaw convention of 1929 comes Paris-Le Bourget Airport.
into force. December | T he only Douglas DC-1 ever built is
19 February | Vultee V-1 first flight. delivered to TWA.
April
12 April | The first International Sanitary Conven-
tion for Aerial Navigation is signed at
The Hague (without a conference) to
protect communities against diseases
liable to be imported by aircraft and to
protect flying personnel against diseas-
es due to flying.
May
15 to 29 May | The Third International Conference on
Private Air Law meets in Rome. This con-
ference adopts two conventions, as fol-
lows: Source: Boeing

1934
First flight of Savoia-Marchetti S.73. May
IATA replaces a preliminary emblem with a 11 May | The Douglas DC-2 makes its first flight.
new one, representing more adequately the 19 May | T upolev ANT-20 Maksim Gorky first
aeronautical, peaceful and international character flight, has a wingspan of 63 meters.
of IATA’s work.
June
An International Air Guide reassures its readers
that “no special clothing is required” for flight. 12 June | T he U.S. President signs the Air Mail Act
of 1934 into law.
TWA is the first airline to cooperate with the Civil
Aeronautics Administration to develop and install July
an ultra-high-frequency blind-landing system. 1 July | T he name of the U.S. Aeronautics
TWA, with the Goodrich Rubber Co., develops the Branch is changed to Bureau of Air Com-
rubber wing de-icer and the rubber propeller de- merce.
icer overshoe. TWA is the first to adopt the Sperry
automatic pilot as standard equipment to reduce 28 July | F irst air hostesses in Europe employed
pilot fatigue. by Swissair.
September
January 1 September | F ormation date of the Mexican airline
Aeromexico.
14 January | de Havilland Express DH.86 first flight.
30 January | Junkers Ju 160 first flight. 13 September | F ollowing a conclusive demonstration of
an Army Air Corps’ blind-landing system,
February the U.S. Bureau of Air Commerce adopts
1 February | South Africa Airways begin operations. that system as its standard.
19 February | Wideroes Flyveselskap AS is founded. October
23 February | L ockheed Electra L-10 first flight, the 1 October | R evised safety requirements for airlines
first airliner to be pressurized. become effective. The new provisions
include the requirement for airline pilots
to use multi-engine aircraft capable of
operating with one engine not function-
ing when flying at night or over terrain
not readily permitting emergency land-
ings. Instrument or “blind” flying is per-
mitted only for multi-engine airliners
equipped with a two-way radio.
November
18 November | T he Air Transport Association of Canada
Source: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Y1C-36 Fact Sheet Media (ATAC) is established.
March December
30 March | Sikorsky S-42, the Flying Clipper, first 30 December | First flight of Martin M-130.
flight.
31 December | H
elen Richey becomes the first wom-
April an to pilot a regular civil flight taking
17 April | d e Havilland Dragon Rapide DH.89 first a Central Airlines Ford Trimotor on the
flight. Washington to Detroit route.

1935
TWA is the first to place combination lounge- June
sleeper planes into service. 1 June | S ikorsky S-43 first flight.
Pan American is the first airline to develop and Summer | F irst In-flight sound motio picture:
employ long-range weather forecasting. Central Airlines, en-route from
Amelia Earhart dedicates the Newark Airport Washington DC to Pittsburgh.
Administration Building, North America’s first November
commercial airline terminal. The airport has one of 12 to 14
the US’s first runways with lighting, which permits November | R epresentatives of all segments of the
night-time operations. aviation community, except manufac-
Gatwick Railway station and the Beehive terminal turers, meet at the Commerce Build-
(the world’s first circular terminal building) are built. ing in Washington, D.C., with Bureau of
Air Commerce officials to discuss air-
way traffic control. Director of Air Com-
merce, Vidal, convinces the airline oper-
ators to establish airway traffic control
immediately and promises that in 90 to
120 days the Bureau of Air Commerce
would take over the operations.
22 November | T he Martin M-130, dubbed the Chi-
Source: http://www.controltowers.co.uk na Clipper by customer Pan American,
makes the first ever scheduled transpa-
January cific flight between San Francisco and
17 January | L atécoère 521, a six-engine flying boat, Manila (arrived 29 November).
and one of the first large trans-Atlan-
29 November | T he U.S. Bureau of Air Commerce, in co-
tic passenger aircraft, makes its first
operation with industry, develops a de-
flight.
vice for elimination of propeller ice.
April
December
13 April | I mperial Airways and Qantas Empire
1 December | A consortium of airline companies or-
Airways open the London to Brisbane
ganize and man the first airway traffic
(Kangaroo route) route for passengers.
control center at Newark, N.J. It pro-
The frequency of service is weekly and
vides information to airline pilots on the
the journey time, 12½ days.
whereabouts of airborne planes in the
Newark vicinity during weather condi-
tions requiring instrument flying.
17 December | T he Douglas Sleeper Transport (DST)
makes its first flight. This aircraft is the
immediate forerunner of the famous
DC-3.
Source: www.timetableimages.com

1936
IATA members agree on the conditions and 6 July | T he U.S. Bureau of Air Commerce takes
procedures for what may be the first inclusive over the first air traffic control centers
tour fare. They also set agents’ commissions at at Newark, Chicago, and Cleveland.
5%, and 3% for hotel concierges - a major business 8 July | F rankfurt Rhein-Main Airport is official-
source. ly opened.
U.S. FAA issues the following regulation: Before 30 July |H
.M.’s government announces its plans
obtaining approval for operation, an applicant for North Atlantic air services. The Brit-
operating an airplane with two piston engines is ish nominated company is Imperial Air-
required to show that intermediate fields available ways. Preference is given for a direct
for safe take-offs and landings are located at route from the UK via Ireland, New-
least at 100-mile intervals along the proposed foundland and Canada.
route.
August
Calendar year, 1936: For the first time in 7 August | T he Air Ministry officially licenses Traigh
history, U.S. domestic airlines carry a million or Mhor/Barra Airport as an airfield. The
more passengers (1,042,042) in scheduled air airport is unique, being the only one in
operations. the world where scheduled flights use a
beach as the runway.
January
3 January | Air Transport Association of America,
Inc. (ATA) is founded.
March
4 March | Rigid airship Hindenburg makes its first
flight.
24 March | A new era begins for Kai Tak as an air-
port for public transportation.
April
15 April | Aer Lingus is founded. Source: Kostas Iatrou
May October
9 May | The German rigid airship Hindenburg 21 October | P an American Airways initiates regu-
moors at Lakehurst, N.J., after a non- lar weekly transpacific passenger ser-
stop transatlantic passage of 61 hours vice as the Hawaii Clipper takes off from
38 minutes from Fiedrichshafen. The Almeda arriving at Manila on 27 October.
flight marks the inauguration of regu- December | U nited opens the industry’s first flight
larly scheduled transatlantic air service. kitchen at Oakland, Calif.
June
6 June | T he Socony-Vacuum Oil Company begins
using the catalytic cracking method to
produce aviation gasoline.
25 June | A merican is the first airline to fly the
Douglas DC-3 in commercial service.
July
4 July | Short Empire’s first flight.

1937
ATC equipment upgrades - radio locators, paper July
flight strips, teletypes etc. 27 July | S .21 Maia first flight. Flying-boat,
launch aircraft for S.20 Mercury.
February 27 July | Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor first flight.
16 February | A merican carries its one-millionth pas- 29 July | L ockheed Model 14 Super Electra first
senger. flight.
22 February | The British Air Ministry issues Pan August
American Airways a permit to operate a 23 August | A t the Army’s Wright Field, Dayton, the
regular air service between the United first wholly automatic landing is made.
Kingdom and the United States via inter- The landing is made without interven-
mediate points in Canada, Bermuda, Ire- tion from the human pilot or from the
land and Portugal (Azores/Lisbon). ground.
April September
2 April | SAAB is founded. 1 September | T rans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) inaugu-
rates its first flight.
28 April | T he Pan American Hong Kong Clipper, a 5 September | S hort S.20 Mercury first flight. Trans-
Sikorsky S-42B flying boat, arrives at port seaplane is carried to flight altitude
Hong Kong from Manila. Linking with the by Short S.21 Maia.
existing Pan Am route from San Francis- October
co to Manila, this new service completes 1 October | T he wearing of seatbelts is made com-
the first commercial airline route from pulsory aboard all British commercial
the United States to a point close to the airlines.
Asian mainland.
12 October |M
alayan Airways Limited (MAL) is born.
May
November | S avoia-Marchetti SM.75 first flight.
6 May | The Hindenburg disaster occurs when
the German dirigible Hindenburg catch- 1 November | A U.S. Department of Commerce rule
es fire and is destroyed. The tragedy comes into effect that requires sched-
signals the end of serious efforts to use uled air carriers to employ a co-pilot on
rigid airships in commercial air trans- multi-engine aircraft with retractable
portation. landing gear or wing flaps, and on sin-
gle-engine aircraft incorporating both
7 May | T he first flight by a fully pressurized air- retractable landing gear and wing flaps.
plane, the Lockheed XC-35, occurs.
29 May | Grumman G-21 Goose first flight.
June
16 June | I mperial Airways and Pan American open
joint Bermuda to New York services. Im-
perial Airways flies from Bermuda to
New York and Pan Am flies New York to
Bermuda. This is the first scheduled
airplane service over a segment of the
North Atlantic.

1938
Northwest assists the Mayo Clinic in developing July
the first practical aviation oxygen mask, making 5 July | C aptain P W Lynch Blosse takes off in
possible high-altitude flying over the Rocky flying boat ‘Cooee’ to inaugurate the Qa-
Mountains. ntas Sydney-Southampton service.
TCA is the first airline to equip its fleet with 10 to 14 July | T he Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra
alcohol de-icing nozzles to remove the ice that makes another record for circling the
accumulates on windshields at high altitude. globe in 3 days, 19 hours and 14 min-
utes piloted by the millionaire Howard
Western becomes the first airline to place
Hughes.
typewriters onboard for passenger use.
20 July | T he first ‘heavier than air’ commercial
crossing of the North Atlantic: Impe-
January rial Airways’ Short S.20 Mercury. The
aircraft separates from the Short S.21
23 January | A rmstrong Whitworth Ensign first
flying boat near Foynes and then flies
flight.
non-stop to Montreal, 2,930 miles in 20
26 January | F irst landing of a scheduled U.S. pas- hours 20 minutes.
senger airliner using ILS occurs when August
a Pennsylvania Central Airlines Boeing 10 August | D eutsche Luft Hansa’s Focke-Wulf Fw
247-D flies from Washington, D.C., to 200 aircraft Condor makes the first non-
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and lands in stop flight from Berlin to New York. It
a snowstorm using only the Instrument covers the distance in 24 h 56 min, one
Landing System. of the longest times aloft for an airliner.
June 22 August | C reation of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Au-
7 June | T he first Boeing Clipper (Model 314) makes thority.
its first flight piloted by Eddie Allen. September
19 to 30
September | T he Fourth International Conference on
Private Air Law meets in Brussels. The
conference adopts the following:
1. An Additional Protocol related to the
Rome Convention for the Unification
of Certain Rules Relating to Damage
Parties on the Surface
2. T he Convention for the Unification of
Certain Rules Relating to the Assis-
tance and Rescue of Aircraft or by Air-
Source: Boeing craft at Sea.
7 June | The single Douglas DC-4E prototype November
makes its first flight. 1 November | F rom this date it becomes an offence
to operate air services in the UK without
23 June | R oosevelt signs into law the Civil Aero- a licence issued by the Air Transport Li-
nautics Act of 1938, creating the Civil censing Authority.
Aeronautics Authority. December
26 June | Imperial Airways’ first through flying 31 December | B oeing Model 307 Stratoliner, the first
boat service to Australia leaves South- pressurized commercial transport, first
ampton. flight.

1939
The official term of “Air Traffic Control” is adopted 30 August | A ir France suspends its flights and re-
by the British Air Ministry. starts flights in non-war zones.
September
February 3 September | F ollowing the formal declaration of war
20 February | The Douglas DC-5 makes its first flight. by the British Government on Germany,
all civil flying ceases.
March
21 September | L ockheed Model 18 Lodestar first flight.
15 March | CSA interrupts activities due to the oc-
cupation of Czechoslovakia. 22 September | I mperial Airways reopens the UK to
Egypt landplane route. The route is later
20 March | U nited and the Airmen’s Association of
extended to India and remains open un-
America sign the airline industry’s first
til Italy enters the war in 1940.
collective bargaining agreement.
November
May
24 November | B ritish Overseas Airways Corporation is
19 May | T he Civil Aeronautics Authority an-
established under the BOAC Act (merg-
nounces issuance of a certificate of
ing Imperial Airways and British Airways
public convenience and necessity to Pan
Ltd).
American Airways authorizing transat-
lantic air transport service. December
June 2 December | L a Guardia opens as one of the first
combined land and water aerodromes
10 June | American Airlines begins trading on the
for seaplanes.
New York Stock Exchange.
2 December | T he first airport lounge, the Admirals
28 June | Pan American Boeing Clipper (Model
Club, opens at LaGuardia airport.
314) makes the first scheduled trans-
Atlantic flight (New York to the Azores,
Lisbon, and Marseilles) becoming the
first airline with scheduled transatlantic
mail and passenger services.
July
6 July | J ames S. McDonnell incorporates the
McDonnell Aircraft Corp. in St. Louis, Mo.
8 July | P an American opens passenger service
between New York and Southhampton.
August
5 August | T he first Imperial regular weekly return
commercial (air mail) Southampton-
Foynes-Botwood-Montreal-New York
transatlantic flights begins on an exper-
imental basis.
27 August | T he first air-breathing jet flight of an
aircraft, accomplished by a Heinkel He
178 with a jet engine.
Source: American Airlines
End | Swissair scheduled services are sus-
pended as war breaks out. 29 December | C onsolidated B-24 Liberator first flight.

1940
TWA offers the first-ever in-flight audio June
entertainment, providing individual receivers 30 June | U .S. President splits the CAA into two
to passengers to listen to commercial radio agencies, the Civil Aeronautics Admin-
programs. It is also the first airline to add flight istration, which returns to the Depart-
engineers to the crews of four-engine aircraft on ment of Commerce, and the Civil Aero-
U.S. routes. nautics Board (CAB).
August | B OAC begins a weekly ‘Horseshoe’ route
March from Durban to Sydney via Cairo and
Karachi due to the direct route over
20 March | B oeing delivers Pan American Airways
Europe being cut. In October, the C Class
its first Model 307 Stratoliners.
Flying boat services link Poole and Lagos
26 March | Curtiss C-46 Commando first flight. in West Africa as part of the route across
Central Africa to Durban.
April
28 August | C aproni Campini N.1 first flight. N.1 is an
1 April | B OAC officially takes over the opera-
experimental aircraft built by the Italian
tions of Imperial Airways and British Air-
aircraft manufacturer Caproni. The N.1 is
ways Limited.
powered by a motorjet, a type of jet en-
30 April | Tasman Empire Airways (TEAL) com- gine that powers the compressor using
mences services between Auckland and a conventional aircraft engine produc-
Sydney - later to become Air New Zea- ing a successful jet powered aircraft.
land.
May
2 May | President Roosevelt give final approval
for development of a version of the in-
strument landing system (ILS) favored
by CAA. Deployment of the system was
delayed, however, by continued dis-
agreements with the military and by
World War II defense priorites. ILS did Source: http://www.museoscienza.org
not become available for civil airliners October
until after the war.
15 October | F iat G.12 first flight.

1941
Luftwaffe assumes control of LH’s aircraft. Lisbon, Gibraltar and Malta with C Class
and Catalina flying boats.
January 16 October | B OAC assumes responsibility for the
1 January | United establishes the industry’s first general administration of the Air Trans-
employee pension program. port Auxiliary.
February November
26 February | P hilippine Airlines is founded by a group 1 November | U .S. CAA begins operating airport traf-
of businessmen. fic control towers (Prior to this time,
June towers were operated by local airport
authorities, except at CAA-managed Na-
16 June | U.S. CAA officially opens Washington
tional Airport).
National Airport for full-time
operations. [1] 30 November | M
ario de Bernardi flies air mail from Mi-
August lan to Guidonia Montecelio, Italy, in a
Caproni Campini N.1 motorjet-powered
21 August | S ATA is born. Named “Sociedade aircraft. It is the first time air mail is
Açoreana de Estudos Aéreos Lda.” carried in any form of jet aircraft.
(Azorean Society of Air Studies), based
in Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel island. December | B OAC commences irregular services
across the North Atlantic with Boeing
September 314 flying boats.
1 September | T he federal Transport Department pur- 13 December | T he U.S. President directs the Secre-
chases the former Dorval Race Track tary of Commerce “to exercise his con-
land, which offers the best possible lo- trol and jurisdiction over civil aviation in
cation for a new and larger airport. Mon- accordance with requirements for the
tréal Airport (Dorval) begins operations successful prosecution of the war, as
with three paved runways. may be requested by the Secretary of
October War.” The Executive order also autho-
rizes the latter “to take possession and
1 October | I nter-Island Airways, Ltd. name changes
assume control of any civil aviation sys-
to Hawaiian Airlines to pave the way for
tem, or systems, or any part thereof, to
trans-Pacific operations.
the extent necessary for the successful
12 October | BOAC re-opens the UK to Cairo route via prosecution of the war.”
[1] Washington National Airport - Courtesy “ Airports in the first 100 years of flight” (2003)

1942 1943
Representatives of the Allied Powers in London January | S hort Sandringham first flight.
turn their thoughts towards the post-war future 9 January | L ockheed L-1049 Constellation first
of air transport. flight.
CAA begins a test program to develop a means of March | B OAC introduces Short S-25 Sunderland
preventing damage to aircraft windshields from III flying boats on the UK to West Africa
collision with birds in flight. route. The route is withdrawn on 25
Delta contributes to the war effort. Modifies October when the Sunderlands opens a
916 aircraft, overhauls 1,000+ engines and UK-Cairo-Karachi service.
instruments, trains Army pilots and mechanics, June | Q antas operates the only regular air
and operates cargo supply routes for military. service to Australia across the Indian
Hawaiian Airlines becomes the first scheduled Ocean between Ceylon and Perth.
air cargo service and has U.S. Cargo service Catalina flying boats crossed 5,600
certificate #1. kilometres non-stop with flying
times of between 28 and 33 hours.
Passengers were awarded a certificate
January of membership to ‘The Rare and
Secret Order of the Double Sunrise’.
6 January | Pan American Airways Pacific Clipper
Liberator aircraft took over in 1945
lands in New York, the first commercial
and passengers received ‘The Elevated
airplane to circle the globe, exclusive of
Order of the Longest Hop.’ Qantas
the continental United States. The air-
Liberators were the first to carry the
craft left San Francisco on 2 December,
flying kangaroo symbol.
1941, and was operating in the South
Pacific when the Pearl Harbor attack
forced it to return to home territory by
flying west.
February
10 February | Sikorsky S-44 first flight.
April |N
ew York City begins placing hydraulic
fill over the marshy tidelands of Idlewild
Golf Course. Initial plans are for a Source: Qantas
modest 1,000-acre airport, but by the
time construction is complete Idlewild August | B OAC’s UK to Gibraltar service resumes,
Airport had grown to five times that operated twice weekly with DC-3
size. aircraft. The BOAC UK to Moscow service
July via North Africa and Iran begins flying,
using converted Liberator bombers.
5 July | Avro York first flight. During the first six months of the year,
BOAC makes about 270 flights in the
Western Desert. During the year it also
introduces Douglas DC-3 aircraft into
service between the UK and Lisbon and
Gibraltar and in North Africa.
December
22 December | U nited Air Lines Transport Corp. (UALTC)
changes its name to United Air Lines,
Inc. (UAL).
Source: The Observer’s Book of Aircraft

1944
July ment.” The Conference is also invited to
11 July | C AB issues a report concluding that an “discuss the principles and methods to
be followed in the adoption of a new avi-
experiment in providing short-haul and
ation convention.”
local scheduled air service should be
conducted. The experiment involves the
establishment of a new airline category,
known as “feeder” or “local service” car-
riers.
November
7 November | T CA convinces both the International
Civil Aviation Organization and the Inter-
national Air Transport Association (IATA)
to establish their headquarters in Mon-
treal. TCA President H.J. Symington is
named President of IATA in 1945.
Source: ICAO
1 November
to 7 December | I n response to the invitation of the Unit- 11 November | C anadair is founded.
ed States Government, representatives 13 November | C ivil air services to London are restored,
of 54 nations meet in Chicago to “make with the first flights carried out by Rail-
arrangements for the immediate estab- way Air Services.
lishment of provisional world air routes
and services” and “to set up an interim December
council to collect, record and study data 7 December | T he Convention on International Civil
concerning international aviation and to Aviation (also known as Chicago Con-
make recommendations for its improve- vention), is signed by 52 States. [1]
[1] Agreements signed at the end of the Chicago Conference in the Grand Ballroom of the Stevens Hotel,
Chicago. From left to right: Kia-Ngau, China; Lord Swinton, United Kingdom; Adolf A. Berle Jr,
Assistant Secretary of State, U.S.; H.J. Symington, Canada, and Max Hymans, France.
Source: ICAO

1945
Germany is banned from operating its own airlines Second World War, starting with
after World War II. domestic flights.
17 September | T he old International Air Traffic Associa-
tion ceases to exist and all documents,
April including the International Air Traffic
19 April | I ATA is founded in Havana, Cuba with 57 Aviation Code, are transferred to the
members from 31 nations. new IATA.
May 20 September | F irst turboprop powered aircraft to fly:
8 May | President Truman proclaim the end of A modified Gloster Meteor F.I powered
the war in Europe. by two Rolls-Royce Trent turbine en-
gines driving propellers, become the
June first turboprop powered aircraft to fly.
1 June | E nding a monopoly by Pan American Air-
25 September | d e Havilland DH.104 Dove first flight.
ways, CAB grants three U.S. airlines the
authority to serve North Atlantic routes
to Europe: Pan American, Transconti-
October | T he first Annual General Meeting of IATA
nental & Western Air (TWA), and Ameri-
is held in Montreal, Canada.
can Export Airlines.
24 October | A DC-4 operated by American Export Air-
22 June | Vickers VC.1 Viking first flight. lines lands at Hurn Airfield, England, af-
July ter a flight from New York, inaugurating
5 July | AOA is formed as a result of a merger the first scheduled landplane commer-
between the international division of cial service between North America and
American and a company called Ameri- Europe.
can Export Airlines. November
August 1 November | T he new Labour government announc-
15 August | P ending ratification of the Convention es plans for post-war air services which
by 26 States, the Interim Council meets would be provided by three state cor-
and begins Provisional International Civ- porations: BOAC to continue to operate
il Aviation Organization PICAO) activities. routes to the Empire, Far East and North
America, British European Airways
(BEA) to operate services to Europe and
domestically within the United King-
dom and British South American Air-
ways (BSAA) to operate new services to
South American and Caribbean destina-
tions.
10 November | A joint BOAC and South African Airways
Springbok service is inaugurated. The
route is Hurn-Castel Benito-Cairo-Khar-
Source: PICAO
toum-Nairobi-Johannesburg.
17 August | D uring the third meeting of the opening 28 November | P an American World Airways orders 20
session of the Interim Council of PICAO, Boeing Stratocruisers.
Dr. Warner is elected the first President. December
September | KLM resumes service following the 2 December | B ristol Type 170 Freighter first flight.

1946
C.I.T.E.J.A. recommends that a Committee on May
International Air Law be established within ICAO. 12 May | T he first post-war UK to Australia flying
Non-directional beacons (NDBs) enhance the boat service is operated jointly by BOAC
airspace division & The Flight Information Regions and Qantas with flying boats taking five
(FIRs) are officially created in the UK. and a quarter days.
Saudi Arabian Airlines is set up as an operating 21 May
agency of the Ministry of Defence. to 7 June | T he Interim PICAO Assembly is held in
Montreal.
January | Wartime restrictions on flying end.
1 January | BSAA operates the first international
departure from Heathrow when Avro
Lancastrian carrying 13 staff passen-
gers, leaves on a proving flight to Bue-
nos Aires.
February
4 February | P an Am flies its first scheduled Constel-
lation flight from La Guardia to Hurn, Source: ICAO
Hampshire in 14 hrs 9 mins.
31 May | H
eathrow officially opens as the new Lon-
5 February | T WA begins transatlantic Constellation don Airport to replace the old Croydon.
flights. (New York-Gander-Shannon-
Paris).
June
6 June |M
ontreal is selected as the permanent
11 February | T he United States and Great Britain sign headquarters of PICAO.
the Bermuda Agreement.
July
15 February | The military prototype of the Douglas 29 July | T ata Air Lines converts to a public com-
DC-6, the YC-122, makes its first flight. pany and is renamed Air India Limited.
31 July | P hilippine Airlines becomes first Asian
airline to cross the Pacific.
August
1 August | S AS is formed.
Source: Boeing September
March 6 September | T he United States and Brazil sign an air
27 March | T he U.S. and France sign a bilateral Five transport agreement, the first such
Freedoms Agreement, giving reciprocal agreement to be made with a South
rights for the operation of each coun- American country.
try’s commercial airlines over the terri- 16 September | A litalia-Aereolinee Italiane Internazion-
tory of the other. ali is incorporated.
April 19 September | T he first TAP commercial line opens.
(Lisbon-Madrid).
4 April | P an Am launches InterContinental Ho-
tels. First opening in Belém Brazil. 24 September | A merican R. C. Farrell and Australian S.
H. de Kantzow found Cathay Pacific.
8 April | E thiopian’s first scheduled flight takes
place to Cairo via Asmara in a Douglas November
C-47. 11 November | S hort Solent flying boat first flight.

1947
The first Traffic Conference reaches agreement quirements for airlines using the instru-
on: fare construction rules for multiple sector ment landing system, known as ILS.
trips; baggage allowances; ticket and air waybill April
forms and agency appointment procedures. 2 April | M
alayan Airways Limited takes to the
U.S. CAA commission inaugurates VORs. skies.
Pan-Am’s ‘Clipper’ becomes the world’s first in- 3 April | C AA began in service testing of GCA
flight magazine. (ground controlled approach) radar sys-
tems at Washington National and Chica-
TWA is the first airline to develop and use the
go Municipal Airports.
quick-frozen precooked method for in-flight meal
service and the first airline to place into operation 4 April | I CAO comes into being taking over from
a system of instantaneous reservations. PICAO, and ICAN is dissolved.
The world’s first duty free store is opened at May
Shannon Airport by Brendan O’Regan. 3 May | P hilippine starts flying to Rome and Ma-
drid (first airline in SE Asia to fly to Eu-
rope).
6 to 27 May | First ICAO Assembly.
13 May | T he Agreement between the United Na-
tions and ICAO comes into force.
28 May | T he 1st meeting of the ICAO Council, at-
tended by 21 Member States, is held in
Montreal. Dr. Edward Warner is elected
Credit: Shannon Airport President of the Council.
January June
6 January | I ATA Clearing House is established in 17 June | P an Am inaugurates round-the-world
London. scheduled passenger service as a Con-
stellation takes off from New York and
7 January | PICAO Air Navigation Committee and the
flies eastward on a route that leads,
first Procedures for International Notic-
eventually, to San Francisco.
es to Airmen Services are approved by
the PICAO Council. October
February 14 October | C harles E. Yeager, USAF, piloting the Bell
X-1 at Muroc, Calif., becomes the first pi-
25 February | U.S. CAA demonstrates a new stall warn-
lot to exceed the speed of sound in level
ing instrument.
flight.
March November
5 March | S pain is the 26th state to deposit its in- 1 November | B raniff is the first airline to receive per-
strument of ratification to the Chicago mission to lower its ceiling minimum.
Convention.
2 November | H
ughes H-4 Hercules makes its first and
14 March | Lockheed L-749 Constellation first only flight.
flight.
December
16 March | Convair CV-240 family first flight. 1 December | Q antas begins its first regular weekly
30 March | C AA Administrator announces that he service with L-749 Constellation through
has lowered ceilings and visibility re- to London on the famous Kangaroo
Route. The journey takes four days.

1948
American introduces the Family Fare Plan to 19 June | T he Convention on the International
enable families to travel together at reduced Recognition of Rights in Aircraft is ad-
rates. It also introduces scheduled coach service, opted in the 2nd Session of the ICAO
an alternative to first class travel. Assembly. The Geneva Convention pro-
vides for the recognition by Contract-
Pan American is the first airline to provide coach- ing States of the Rights of property in
class service outside the continental U.S. aircraft; the Rights to acquire aircraft
by purchase coupled with possession;
January the Rights to possession of aircraft un-
der leases of six months or more. Those
16 January | T he Airport Operators Council is estab-
rights must be constituted in accor-
lished as an association of operators of
dance with the law of the Contracting
U.S. commercial airports.
State in which the aircraft are regis-
April | Birth of IFALPA. tered as to nationality at the time of
their constitution, and the rights are
regularly recorded in a public record of
the Contracting State in which the air-
craft are registered as to nationality.
This Convention was the first product of
ICAO’s work in air law.
July
16 July | V ickers Viscount first flight.
26 July | T he Berlin Airlift starts.
1 April | I ATA Member airlines introduce the first September
Multilateral Interline Passenger Traffic 15 September | T he Standards and Recommended Prac-
Agreement, adopted by the IATA Com- tices for the Rules of the Air becomes
posite Traffic Conferences in 1947. effective as Annex 2.
6 April | F irst flight by a jet transport: A Rolls- October
Royce Nene-powered Vickers VC.1 Viking
1 October | T he Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) is in-
becomes the first jet-powered airliner
troduced by the world’s airlines.
to fly.
21 October | T unisair is established as Tunisia’s flag
14 April | A doption by the ICAO Council of the first
carrier.
set of licensing SARPS contained in An-
nex 1. November
15 April | Standards and Recommended Practices 4 November | C apital Airlines creates coach class on
for the Rules of the Air are adopted by the Chicago-Pittsburgh route. The tick-
the ICAO Council. et costs 30% less than the normal class.
16 April | I CAO Council adopts: Annex 3, Annex 4 15 November | E l Al is established.
and Annex 5.
June
4 June | P hilippine Air Lines places DC-6s in oper-
ation between San Francisco and Manila
on the first sleeper service across the
Pacific.

1949
The plastic-lined airsickness bag is created by nautical information. The principal re-
inventor Gilmore Schjeldahl for Northwest Orient sults of the meeting are the develop-
Airlines. ment of a draft set of “Procedures for
Air Navigation Services - Aeronautical
American becomes the only airline in the United Information Services” (PANS-AIS, to re-
States with a completely post-war fleet of place the existing “Procedures for Air
pressurized passenger airplanes. Navigation Services - Procedures for
International Notices to Airmen Ser-
February vices”), the enunciation of principles to
govern the promulgation and dissemi-
1 February | T he ICAO Council adopts the following nation of NOTAMS over the interna-
resolutions on the establishment of the tional aeronautical telecommunication
Air Navigation Commission: service, and the formulation of recom-
1. A n Air Navigation Commission of mendations for the future handling of
twelve members shall be established aeronautical information problems.
in accordance with the Council Reso-
lution dated 5 October 1948. May
2. T he Air Navigation Committee at its 11 May | M
oscow lifts the blockade of West Ber-
next meeting should consider and dis- lin.
pose of all necessary business to fa- July
cilitate the transfer of its functions to
the Air Navigation Commission. 27 July | The first flight of the prototype De
3. Mr. W.J. Binaghi, Argentina, is appoint- Havilland Comet, the first commercial
ed the first Chairman of the ANC. jet aircraft.
4 February | C AA grant authorization for commercial

planes to use ground control approach
(GCA) radar as a “primary aid” for bad-
weather landings.
7 February | T he original Annex H - Aircraft Registra-
tion and Identification Marks, becomes
Annex 7 - Aircraft Nationality and Reg-
istration Marks. The ICAO Council adopts
the first standards concerning this issue.
23 February | SITA is founded by eleven airlines. Source: British Airways
March September
25 March | I CAO Council adopts Annex 9 – Stan- 30 September | The Berlin Airlift officially ends.
dards and Recommended Practices
for the Facilitation of International Air November
Transport. 2 November | C AAC is formed.
April December
14 April 28 December | A DC-3 aircraft with the logo “Garuda In-
to 12 May | A Special NOTAM Meeting is held in donesian Airways” on its fuselage flies
Montreal. It is the first meeting con- from Jakarta to Yogyakarta to pick up
vened by ICAO for the express pur- President Soekarno. This is the first
pose of standardizing the activities of flight made under the brand of Garuda
States in the dissemination of aero- Indonesian Airways.

25 May | A nnex 12 Search and Rescue is first ad-
1950s July
opted by the ICAO Council.
► Late 1950s: the Instrument Landing System

(ILS) replaces the former radar systems. 1 July | The world’s first regularly scheduled
helicopter passenger service, between
Cardiff and Liverpool, is opened by BEA.
28 July | T he world’s first gas turbine-powered
1950 service is flown by BEA from Northolt

to Le Bourget, Paris with a Vickers V630
Viscount aircraft.
October
Altitude reported by pilots and identification of 1 October | I lyushin IL-14 passenger aircraft first
aircraft still monitored by controllers. flight.
SITA opens its first telecommunications centre in 15 to 21
Rome. Information is manually transmitted using October | D uring this seven-day period, U.S. CAA
perforated tape and teleprinters. This is the first puts into operation the first omnirange
generation of the world’s largest network. (VOR) airways.
First official Delta souvenir for children, a paper 21 October | M
artin 4-0-4 first flight.
Junior Pilot Certificate.
November
Western is the first airline to use a conveyor belt 7 November | B OAC retires its last flying boat airliner
system for aircraft loading and unloading. from service.
December
May 7 December | B y decree Nº 26.099 of the Executive
10 May | de Havilland DH.114 Heron first flight. Power, Aerolineas Argentinas is created
as a State Company.
17 May | T WA’s corporate name is officially
changed to Trans World Airlines.
18 May | A nnex 11 – Air Traffic Services is first
adopted by ICAO Council.

1951
U.S. CAA places the first nine DME (distance- August
measuring equipment) ground transponders in 1 August | J apan Airlines Co., Ltd. is founded.
experimental operation along the Chicago-New
York airway.
March
1 March | B OAC introduces its luxury Monarch ser-
vice to New York using the Stratocruiser,
which offers sleeper accommodation.
Japan Airlines flight attendants in front of Martin 2-0-2 Mokusei

on the occasion of the airline’s inaugural flight, 25 October 1951
Source: Album of the 15-Year History of Postwar Japan
October
1 October | T he world’s airlines introduce the first
Multilateral Interline Cargo Handling
Agreement, adopted by the IATA Com-
posite Traffic Conferences, held at Ber-
muda in May 1951.
April
8 October | T he first Royal flight by BOAC takes
11 April | Annex 13, named Aircraft Accident place. The then Princess Elizabeth and
Inquiry, is first adopted by the ICAO the Duke of Edinburgh flew to Montreal
Council. in a Stratocruiser for their Canadian tour.
May November
29 May | The Standards and Recommended Prac- 1 November | A new ICAO alphabet is implemented in
tices for Aerodromes are first adopted the Aeronautical Telecommunications
by the ICAO Council. Annex 10 in civil aviation, with one-year
July transition to this new alphabet.
14 July | Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation 27 November | I CAO Council adopts a complete revision
first flight. and rearrangement of Annex 2 titled In-
ternational Standards - Rules of the Air.
December
5 December | E leven airlines reach an agreement to
introduce tourist (economy) class seats
to transatlantic services, thus paving
the way for a dramatic increase in pas-
senger numbers.

1952
The Approach Control is officially established in
ATC.
A standard Agency Agreement is drawn up
between IATA and the agencies, which sets the
pattern for airline-agent relations.
American introduces the first electronic
reservations system, Magnetronic Reservisor, to
keep track of available seats on flights.
TWA, with its “Sky Tourist” Constellation service, Source: British Airways
is the first to offer low-cost air transportation
between the United States and Europe.
31 May | T he first TWA Ambassadors’ Club opens
January at Greater Pittsburgh Airport.
14 January | T he first pre-clearance of airline pas- June
sengers and baggage entering the Unit- 17 June | T he Council of the International Civil
ed States from Canada—a new concept Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopts a
to facilitate international air travel—is recommendation that, pending develop-
inaugurated at Toronto Malton Airport. ment of a more suitable form of speech,
English should be used as a universal
22 January | The de Havilland Comet 1 becomes the
language in aeronautical radiotelephony
first turbojet-powered airliner to re-
and should be available for communica-
ceive a certificate of airworthiness.
tions involving international air servic-
April es. This recommended practice, which
11 April | The Pan American World Airways Doug- became applicable on 1 April 1953, is
las DC-4 Clipper Endeavor, operating as contained in an amendment to Annex 10
Flight 526A, suffers the failure of two of the Convention on International Civil
engines and ditches in rough seas in the Aviation (Vol. II, Section 5.2.1.1.2).
Atlantic Ocean. After the accident, it is August
recommended that in the future pas- 16 August | B ristol Britannia first flight.
sengers be briefed about location and
October
usage of flotation equipment and emer-
gency exits before over-water flights. 7 October | A n amended Convention on Damage
May Parties on the Surface is adopted and
1 May | T he first tourist class air service over signed to unify, on an international lev-
the North Atlantic begins, in accordance el, the laws relating to recovery by per-
with an agreement between eleven In- sons who suffer damage caused on the
ternational Air Transport Association surface by foreign aircraft, while limit-
member airlines. Fares are generally ing the liabilities of those responsible
about 20 to 25% below the standard for such damage. The Convention also
first-class fares (London-New York one deals with a host of related matters,
way tourist fare USD 270). such as apportionment of claims, finan-
cial security requirements, jurisdiction
2 May | B OAC flies the world’s first pure jet ser-
and enforcement of judgments.
vice. The Comet G-ALYP operates from
London Airport to Johannesburg via December | F ormation of Japan Helicopter
Rome, Beirut, Khartoum, Entebbe and & Aeroplane Transport Co Ltd.,
Livingstone. predecessor of All Nippon Airways.

1953
U.S. FAA § 121.161 imposes the 60-minute rule on July
two- and three-engine airplanes. 9 July | New York Airways becomes the first
Dr David Warren of Aeronautical Research scheduled passenger helicopter air car-
Laboratory (ARL) in Fisherman’s Bend invent the rier to operate in the United States.
world’s first black box flight recorder. September
1 September | T he Belgian airline Sabena opens the
February | U nited and the Radio Corporation of first international helicopter services,
America launch a joint project to develop from Brussels to Rotterdam, Lille, and
an airborne weather-mapping (C-band) Maastricht.
radar. Fleet installation of the units in
July 1955 marks an industry first.
Spring | Aero O/Y starts to use the name Finnair
in its marketing.
April
1 April | B ased on unanimous agreement reached
under the auspices of the IATA Traffic
Conferences, the concept of tourist-class
service is introduced within Europe and
between Europe and the Near East. The
tourist-class concept is extended to In-
dia, Pakistan and Ceylon, as well as be-
tween Europe and South Africa, on 1 Oc- Source: Sabena
tober 1953, and across the Pacific and to October
South America on 1 April 1954.
1 October | E stablishment of the new Japan Airlines
May and dissolution of the former Japan Air
15 May | The Air Navigation Commission and Lines.
the first set of Standards and Recom- 19 October | T WA is the first airline to provide non-
mended Practices is adopted by the stop transcontinental air service. The
ICAO Council as Annex 15 - Aeronautical flight from Los Angeles to New York
Information Services to the Convention took 8 hours. Because of prevailing
for the promulgation of information es- head winds, westbound transcontinen-
sential to the safety, regularity and ef- tal services continued to stop in Chicago
ficiency of air navigation. to refuel.
18 May | The Douglas DC-7 airliner makes its first
flight.
Source: Delta Air Lines

1954
Delta Air Lines becomes the first airline to body which, it suggested, might be
supplement visual inspection of aircraft parts named the “European Civil Aviation
with a portable x-ray machine to examine interior Conference”, should maintain the
structures. closest liaison with ICAO, as well as with
other interested organisations.
Kuwait Airways is born.
25 April | Paris-Montreal, Paris-Chicago and Paris-
New York, all standard transatlantic Air
February France services, are equipped with beds.
Each plane is endowed with a cabin with
1 February | TCA launches “Tourist class” economy
two double beds and two single beds.
fares, made possible by adopting high-
er-density seating arrangements. The May
move lowers fares by 20%. 4 May | T he patent for the inflatable escape
April | The Conference on Co-ordination of Air chute assembly is submitted by Boyle.
Transport in Europe (CATE), formally July
constituted by ICAO in December 1953 15 July | P ilot Tex Johnston and copilot R.L. “Dix”
(5) meets in Strasbourg. As many of Loesch take the Boeing Model 367-80
the recommendations being adopted (Dash 80) on its first flight. [1]
at the meeting would require follow-
up action by a duly authorised and September
competent body operating in close 18 September | R omanian Air Transport - TAROM - is es-
liaison with ICAO, the meeting proposed tablished.
the establishment of a permanent November
European organisation of high-level
aviation authorities to implement its 15 November | S AS is the world’s first airline to launch
recommendations and to carry out the Polar shortcut as the Copenhagen -
the work it had initiated. This proposal Los Angeles route is opened.
envisaged a body that would meet 27 November | F irst nonstop commercial transatlantic
periodically and that would at least service by Pan American (9 hours,
at the outset, be serviced by the ICAO 42 minutes) with a Boeing 377
Secretariat. It recommended that this Stratocruiser.
[1] Source: Boeing

1955
ICAO’s regulations for trans-Atlantic flights: 1,000 August
feet vertically, 120 miles laterally and 30 minutes 7 August | T ex Johnston does two “barrel rolls”
longitudinally. with the Boeing Dash 80 over the Sea-
Dr. John Morrel introduces the time-based fair hydroplane course on Lake Wash-
concept of collision avoidance. ington in Seattle.
Delta pioneers the use of the hub and spoke
system.
The technical operations team of TCA changes
industry standards again in 1955 by installing
anti-skid brakes on various Viscount aircraft.
Pilots can finally make turns on water or ice.
January
1 January |N
orthwest voluntarily becomes the
first airline to operate without govern-
ment subsidy on transpacific and United
States-Alaska routes.
10 January | Birth of a new airline, PIA.
April
1 April | First flight of Lufthansa (Hamburg to
Munich).
May Source: Boeing
5 May | T he Paris Peace Treaties restore full air- 25 August |H

andley Page Dart Herald first flight.
space sovereignty to West Germany.
This allows Lufthansa’s flight schedule September
to include non-German destinations. 25 September | T WA is the first airline to propose and in-
troduce an inexpensive one-way trans-
9 May | BOAC introduces tourist class on London continental excursion fare.
to Sydney weekly service, using a Con-
stellation aircraft. October
27 May | T he Sud-Aviation SE 210 Caravelle 30 October | T he first commercial flights begin at the
makes its first flight, the first short- new O’Hare Field, Chicago International
haul jet plane to go into general use. Airport.
June November
17 June | T he prototype of Russia’s first modern 24 November | F okker F27 Friendship first flight.
aircraft, the twin-engine jetliner TU-104, 29 November to
designed by Andrei N. Tupolev (1888- 16 December | E CAC holds its inaugural session in
1972), makes its initial flight. Strasbourg.

1956
Aeroflot launches the first jet, the TU-104, to April
operate on Russia’s domestic and international 28 April | R estoration of Japan’s international avi-
routes. ation rights.
Weather-avoidance radar installed in noses of all 30 April | T he ‘Multilateral Agreement on Commer-
Delta aircraft. cial Rights of Non-Scheduled Air Servic-
TWA is the first to install a dynamometer-type es in Europe’ is opened for signatures.
engine test cell, resulting in greater accuracy and June
safety at less cost.
30 June | A Trans World Airlines’ Super Constella-
tion and a United Air Lines’ DC-7 collide
January over the Grand Canyon, Arizona, killing
1 January | T he International Air Transport Associa- all 128 occupants. The crash triggers
tion (IATA) launches the First Edition of sweeping changes in the regulations
the IATA Restricted Articles Regulations governing cross-country flights over
(RAR) (renamed Dangerous Goods Reg- the United States, which would include
ulations—DGR in 1983). the creation of the Federal Aviation
Agency.
February
August
11 February | Antonov An-8 first flight.
30 August | T he Air Coordinating Committee ap-
18 February | M
oscow route is opened making Finnair proves a study panel’s recommendation
the first Western airline to begin a ser- that VOR and TACAN, the separate civil
vice to the Soviet capital after the Sec- and military air navigation systems, be
ond World War. combined. VORTAC would become a key
March element of the civil-military common
1 March | T he final version of ICAO alphabet (print- system of air navigation and air traffic
ed in Annex 10) is implemented by ICAO. control.
October
10 October | L ockheed L-1649 Starliner first flight.
20 October | B ell 204/205 first flight.
Source: ICAO
31 March | T he Air Traffic Control Association

(ATCA) is established as a nonprofit pro-
fessional organization.

1957
The world’s first special facility for flight utes - 12 hours less than it took Lind-
attendants’ training, the American Airlines bergh to fly 3,625 miles across the At-
Stewardess College, is built in Dallas/Fort Worth. lantic.
United Airlines Mainliner become the world’s first June
in-flight magazine published for a single airline. 28 June | C ompany Chérifienne Air Transport
Schiphol opens the first mainland European (CCTA) is created following the merger
airport tax-free shopping centre. between Air and Atlas Air Morocco and
takes the new name of Compagnie Na-
tionale Air transportation “Royal Air Mo-
rocco.”
July
4 July | I lyushin IL-18 passenger aircraft first
flight.
August
5 August | T he Civil Aeronautics Board adopts a
rule requiring an approved Flight Data
Recorder (FDR) aboard air carriers and
commercial airplanes of more than
12,500 pounds maximum certificated
take-off weight, with compliance by 15
July 1958.
Source: Schiphol Group
November
15 November | T upolev Tu-114 first flight.
January
3 January | T WA is the first airline to offer passen-
December | J apan Helicopter & Aeroplane Transport
gers freshly-brewed coffee in flight. Co Ltd. name is changed to All Nippon
Airways Co., Ltd.
February
6 December | L ockheed L-188A Electra first flight.
24 February | SAS is the first airline in the world to in-
augurate a regular Polar service with 16 December | A ntonov An-12 first flight.
Douglas DC-7C aircraft between Copen- 20 December | T he first Boeing 707 takes to the Seat-
hagen and Tokyo via Anchorage, AK, tle skies.
U.S.A.
April
4 April | Air Austria and Austrian Airways finally
merge to form a single airline, Austrian
Airlines.
May
21 May | A Douglas DC-7C takes off from Long
Beach (Calif.) Municipal Airport for a re-
cord trans-Atlantic flight that retraces
part of the route flown by Charles Lind-
bergh in 1927. The aircraft flies 6,148
miles to Paris in 21 hours and 52 min- Source: Boeing

1958
This is the first year that the total number of 28 March | T he first passenger boarding bridge is
transatlantic passengers traveling by air exceeded introduced at Chicago O’Hare to speed
the number traveling by sea. up boarding times.
Lockheed introduces the first FAA approved flight
April
data recorder (black box).
The multichannel flight recorder is pioneered 1 April | I ATA Member airlines agree to launch
by Trans-Canada Air Lines and installed on DC-8 a new type of service, called economy
and Vanguard aircraft. TCA introduces the radar- class, at fares some 20 percent lower
tracking technology, which means its aircraft can than for tourist class.
avoid weather disturbances.
May
The first moving walkway in an airport is installed
at Dallas Love Field in Texas. 1 May |M
ixed-classes, First Class and Tourist,
are introduced by BEA.
A new northwest/southeast heading 2,529 meter
runway is constructed on a promontory into 30 May | The Douglas DC-8 makes its first flight.
Kowloon Bay. The name, Hong Kong International
Airport, is officially adopted for Kai Tak Airport. June
9 June | T he ‘new’ Gatwick officially opens. It is
the world’s first single facility airport
Early | The ‘Black Box’ flight recorder is
developed by David Warren of the accessible by all modes of transport -
Aeronautical Research Laboratories in air, rail and road.
Melbourne. July | T he first father-and-son team to fly the
Atlantic as captain and co-pilot consists
of TCA captain R.M. Smith and his son,
first officer Rod Smith, aboard a Super
Constellation.
August
15 August | P an American World Airways takes de-
livery of the country’s first commercial
jet airliner, a Boeing 707-120.
23 August | T he U.S. President signs the Federal Avi-
Dr David Warren with the first prototype flight data recorder.
Source: National Museum of Australia ation Act, which transfers the Civil Aero-
January nautics Authority’s functions to a new
independent Federal Aviation Agency
14 January | T wo Qantas Super Constellations take-
off from Melbourne to inaugurate a pio- (FAA).
neering round the world service (India October
along the Kangaroo Route & Southern
4 October | B OAC operates the first jet service
Cross Route via the United States). They
circumnavigated the globe in opposite across the North Atlantic to New York
directions, arriving back in Sydney six using the Comet 4.
days later. 26 October | C ommercial history is made when Pan
March American World Airways inaugurates
2 March | B eijing Capital International Airport trans-Atlantic 707 jet service between
opens. New York and Paris.

1959
An extension of the passenger boarding bridge August | S heremetyevo Airport opens with
system is introduced at Los Angeles International the primary task of accommodating
Airport. international flights.
Hilton opens its first airport hotel (San Francisco September
Airport Hilton) and pioneers the airport hotel 10 September | T o aid in the control of civil and military
concept. air traffic, FAA puts into operation in the
New York area a 64-code air traffic con-
trol radar beacon system, commonly
known as secondary radar.
18 September | T he Douglas DC-8 enters airline service
simultaneously with United Air Lines
and Delta Airlines.
30 September | C roydon Airport is closed. The final ser-
vice is a de Havilland DH.114 Heron flight
to Rotterdam Captained by Geoffrey
Source: Hilton
Last.
January
October
27 January | First flight of Convair 880.
20 October | A ntonov An-24 first flight.
February
November
25 February | In a special conference at Montreal, the
23 November | B oeing 720 first flight.
International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) approves the distance-measur- December
ing element (DMET) as a complement to 12 December | I n Saint-Louis, Senegal, the Heads of
the very high frequency omnidirectional State and Government of the autono-
radio range (VOR). mous states from the former Federa-
April tions AEF, AOF and Madagascar sign
the Convention which will give birth to
8 April | C AB rules that foreign airlines cannot ASECNA.
carry commercial traffic only moving
between U.S. cities. 16 December | C hina Airlines is founded.
July
5 July | The first air shuttle service in the world
is inaugurated between Santos Dumont
airport in Rio de Janeiro and Congonhas
airport in Sao Paulo by the airlines Varig,
Cruzeiro do Sul and VASP.
14 July | T he first fully operational boarding [1] Source: CR Smith Museum
bridge is installed at San Francisco Inter-
national Airport. [1]
31 July | Effective this date, FAA requires that one
pilot at the controls of a turbine-pow-
ered airliner operating above 25,000
feet wear and use an oxygen mask, and
that the other cockpit crew members
have masks ready for immediate use.

1960s craft noise at major airports by proce-
dural methods.
► E arly 1960s: Secondary Surveillance Radar 5 April | B EA introduces de Havilland Comet 4B
(SSR) - identification/altitude reader. aircraft on the Nicosia, Athens, Rome,
► Late 1960s: Computers come into play, and London routes. Cyprus Airways,
taking over many of the human functions: with the introduction of the Comets, be-
comes the first airline in the Middle East
-The calculation, distribution and printing to have jet airplanes.
of paper strips to the appropriate sectors;
22 April | T he ‘Multilateral Agreement relating to
-Other software takes over the radio
transmission and ground messages Certificates of Airworthiness for Im-
connection. ported Aircraft’ to cover the import of
spare parts, engines, etc. is constituted.
All-weather operations, mutual recog-
nition of private pilot licences and the
1960 performance characteristics of airborne

navigation and communications equip-
ment are amongst other issues consid-
ered opened for signatures.
Thai Airways International is founded. June
The first Semi-Automated Business Research 24 June |H
awker Siddeley HS 748 first flight.
Environment (Sabre) system is installed on September
two IBM 7090 computers, located in a specially
designed computer center in Briarcliff Manor, New 8 September | F AA adopts the British RAE visual glide
York. path indicator landing lights as a nation-
al standard for use at U.S. airports.
December
February
13 December | E UROCONTROL International Convention
21 February | Finnair takes delivery of its first Cara-
relating to Cooperation for the Safety of
velle A and becomes the first airline in
Air Navigation is signed by the 6 found-
the world to operate a jet passenger air-
craft with a flight deck crew of two, in- ing States.
stead of the normal three.
26 February | COCESNA is created.
March
29 March | Tupolev Tu-124 first flight.
April
1 April | Cooperation between JAL and Air France
on operation of codeshare flights on the
Polar route between Tokyo and Paris via
Anchorage.
4 April | F AA places in effect the first of a series
of regulations designed to minimize air-

1961
The International Register of Civil Aircraft (IRCA) is 21 August | A Canadian Pacific Air Lines Doug-
created as a result of a joint decision of the then las DC-8 sets two world records dur-
UK Air Registration Board (now the UK CAA), RAI ing a single test flight. First, it reaches
(now ENAC) and BUREAU VERITAS to gather in one 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) at a weight
common format the national registers of various of 107,600 pounds (48,807 kg), a new
countries. altitude record for a loaded transport
jet. Then, in a dive from that altitude, it
reaches Mach 1.012 with a true air speed
January of 662.5 mph (1,066.8 km/h) at an al-
titude of 39,614 feet (12,074 meters),
15 January | “Leonardo da Vinci” International Airport
becoming the first airliner to break the
open.
sound barrier.
24 January | First flight of Convair 990 Coronado. September
February 5 September | U .S. President signs an amendment to
24 February | Iranian Airways and Persian Air Services the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, which
merge to form a new airline, IranAir. makes it a crime to hijack an aircraft,
interfere with an active flight crew, or
April carry a dangerous weapon aboard an air
1 April | All aircraft of IATA member airlines have carrier aircraft.
to fly on IFR.
7 September | U .S. FAA approves in principle the use of
May Doppler radar and other flight deck na-
1 May | A ntulio Ramirez Ortiz perpetrates the vaids to guide airliners across the North
first hijacking of a commercial airliner Atlantic.
to Cuba. October
25 May | A Special Civil Air Regulation effective 19 to 20
this date bans the use of portable FM ra- October | T he International Federation of Air Traf-
dios on U.S. civil aircraft. fic Controllers’ Association (IFATCA) is
constituted in Amsterdam.
June
29 June | FAA commissions the first Doppler VOR
system for service at Marquette, Mich.
July
19 July | T WA is the first to provide in-flight mov-
ies. The first film ever shown in-flight is
“By Love Possessed,” with Lana Turner.
August
10 August | For the first time, the U.S. Federal gov-
ernment employs armed guards on ci-
vilian planes. Source: IFATCA

1962
CAAC begins operating international services, In this way Finnair, via Polar-Air, moves
initially to other countries in the Communist bloc. European charter flight traffic into the
jet age.
Delta activates the electronic SABRE system
for “instant” reservations and modifies cabin April
configurations to offer both First Class and 2 April | L uxair starts operations.
Economy Class on all four-engine aircraft. May | P akistan International becomes the
Pan American develops a global computer first non-US carrier showing a regularly
reservations system, named PANAMAC. scheduled film onboard.
Finnish-American architect, Eero Saarinen, June
designs the futuristic building, the TWA Terminal. 29 June | V ickers VC10 first flight.
It opens for Trans World Airlines. August
30 August |N
AMC YS-11 first flight.
October
January 1 October | T WA is the first to fly the Atlantic in
9 January | Hawker Siddeley Trident first flight. scheduled service using the Doppler ra-
dar system, a fully automated system
February of navigation.
7 February | With the imposition of the U.S. embargo
on Cuba, Cubana is forced to cancel all
November
its U.S. services. 5 November | F AA announces acceptance of a design
concept for a standard air traffic con-
26 February | B EA introduces its electronic reserva- trol tower. The concept features a free-
tions unit. standing tower providing greater visibil-
March ity from the cab.
1 March | L os Angeles Airways begins the world’s 17 November | C eremonies mark the opening of Dulles
first airline service by a multi-engine International Airport. Scheduled airline
turbine- powered transport helicopter. service begins two days later. [1]
Spring | C aravelle charter flights begin to December
Tenerife, Palma de Mallorca and Rimini. 24 December | A érospatiale N 262 first flight.
[1] Source: “Airports in the first 100 years of flight” (2003)

1963
Timatic, the database containing cross border measuring equipment (DME) on all air-
passenger documentation requirements, is first line turbojets and on all other civil air-
established. craft flying instrument flight rules (IFR)
With the formation of Malaysia, Malayan Airways above 24,000 feet in the contiguous 48
Limited changes its name to Malaysian Airlines States goes into effect.
Limited. 29 July | T upolev Tu-134 first flight.
TCA becomes the world’s first major airline with August
an all-turbine fleet when it retires its last piston- 20 August | B AC One-Eleven first flight.
engined aircraft.
September
14 September | T he Tokyo Convention on Offences and
January Certain Other Acts Committed on Board
2 January | First flight of Ilyushin IL-62. Aircraft is signed in Tokyo.
17 January | Short SC.7 Skyvan first flight. 18 September | J uancho E. Yrausquin Airport official-
23 January | R eserVec, the world’s first computer- ly opens. The airport has the shortest
ized reservation system, changes the commercial runway in the world, only
ticketing game. 400 meters long, flanked on one side by
high hills, with cliffs that drop into the
February
sea at both ends.
9 February | Boeing 727-100 makes its first flight.
Source: Boeing
25 February | Transall C-160 first flight.

March Photographer: Cees Timmers, Source: www.tvc-advertising.com
1 March | The International Convention relating to
Cooperation for the Safety of Air Navi- December
gation enters into force and EUROCON- 8 December | A lightning-induced fuel tank explo-
TROL Agency is created. sion causes the crash of a Pan Ameri-
can Boeing 707 near Elkton, Md. FAA’s
18 March | C airo International Airport is inaugurat-
response includes an 18 December tele-
ed.
gram to air carriers and aircraft opera-
July tors requiring installation of static dis-
1 July | An FAA safety rule requiring distance- chargers on aircraft using turbine fuels.

1964
U.S. FAA exempts three-engine airplanes from Recorders to be installed in certain air-
the 1953, § 121.161 60-minute rule leaving the craft used by air carriers or commercial
restrictions only on two-engine airplanes based operators. The rule applies to large tur-
on the lack of satisfactory engine reliability in bine-powered aircraft and to large pres-
operations. surized aircraft with four piston-type
engines.
Pan Am is the first airline to relay in-flight
messages via satellite. July
21 July | P an American World Airways announces
that inertial navigation systems will be
January installed on most of its jet aircraft.
4 January | P ope Paul VI, visiting the Holy Land, dis-
embarks from an Alitalia DC-8. This is
August
the first time a pope uses a plane for an 6 August | A n FAA rule effective this date requires
official visit. the closing and locking of crew com-
partment doors of scheduled air carriers
20 January | Beechcraft 90 King Air first flight. and other large commercial aircraft in
April flight.
29 April | PIA earns the distinction of becoming October
the first airline from a non-communist 2 October | T aking another step toward the goal
country to fly into the People’s Repub- of all-weather landing, FAA announces
lic of China. PIA’s first service to China qualifying criteria for Category II land-
is from Karachi to Shanghai via Canton ing operations.
with a Boeing 720B.
December
June
8 December | A United Air Lines Caravelle jet makes
1 June | La Guardia Airport opens to scheduled
the first computer landing (automatic
air carrier jet operations.
touchdown) at Dulles International Air-
26 June | FAA issues a rule requiring Cockpit Voice port.

1965
IATA association membership passes the hundred- April
mark. Over 140 million passengers and more than 1 April | T EAL changes its name to Air New Zea-
three million tonnes of freight are carried by IATA land.
this year.
5 April | B oeing receives the largest commer-
Air Canada helps make history by assisting Midas cial order by an airline to date: United Air
and Royston Instruments, an English electronics Lines orders 66 jetliners with options
company, to develop the multichannel flight for 39 more and leases another 25.
recorder, the world’s first black box.
21 April | F AA eliminates the rule requiring a
Air Canada is the first airline to install covered three-man crew on all transports with
passenger walkways linking terminals and a take-off weight over 80,000 pounds,
aircraft. and substitutes a rule that sets forth
Chicago O’Hare becomes the first Airport to reach workload criteria as the standard for
20 million passengers. determining the size of an air transport
cockpit crew.
May
January
20 May | d e Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
1 January | TCA is renamed Air Canada. first flight.
4 January | Under a rule effective this date, FAA re- June
quires approved survivor lights on all
7 June | F AA new rules governing the rapid evac-
life preservers and life rafts carried by
uation of passengers from aircraft be-
U.S. air carriers and other large commer-
come effective.
cial aircraft flying more than 50 miles
from shore. 10 June | B EA’s Trident 1 G-ARPR arrives at Heath-
February row from Paris Le Bourget making the
world’s first fully automatic landing of a
25 February | The Douglas DC-9 twinjet airliner makes commercial airliner carrying fare-pay-
its first flight. ing passengers.
August
25 August | A ACO is launched.
October | U nited is the first airline to qualify for
the Federal Aviation Administration’s
(FAA’s) all-weather program, allowing
DC-8s to land at specified airports
with as little as 100-foot ceilings and
quarter-mile visibility. In addition,
United launches its “Fly the Friendly
Skies” slogan which becomes the
industry’s longest-running marketing
message.
November
Source: Boeing
15 November | F irst pole-to-pole circumnavigation is
completed by Captains Fred Austin, and
27 February | Antonov An-22 “Antei” first flight is the Harrison Finch with a Boeing 707-349C
world’s largest turboprop-powered air- named “Pole Cat” leased from the Flying
craft. Tiger Line, in 57 hours, 27 minutes.

1966
SITA: The first computer adapted for message October
switching opens in Frankfurt. 15 October | P resident Johnson signs the Depart-
ment of Transportation Act (Public Law
89-670), bringing 31 previously scat-
January tered Federal elements, including FAA,
27 January | Fairchild FH-227 first flight. under the wing of one Cabinet Depart-
28 January | FAA publishes a rule requiring a life pre- ment. The DOT Act also creates with-
server or some other approved flotation in the new Department a five-member
device for each occupant of large air- NTSB.
craft used by air carriers or other com- 21 October | Y akovlev Yak-40 first flight.
mercial operators in all overwater oper-
ations.
29 January | O fficial opening of new Auckland Inter-
national Airport.
February | Freddie Laker unveils his airline - Laker
Airways - to the press.
Source: Yakovlev
November
1 November | M
ontreal to Moscow. Air Canada launch
the first direct air link between North
America and the USSR.
May 4 November | T he United States and the Soviet Union
20 May | A $2.50 charge for in-flight motion pic- sign an agreement authorizing commer-
ture entertainment on international cial airline services between New York
flights receives the approval of the Civil and Moscow.
Aeronautics Board. The charge, covering 16 November | T ransavia operates first commercial
the audio portion of the entertainment, flight.
was put into effect by U.S.-flag carriers
on 1 April 1966.
September
30 September | Four Asian airlines, namely Philippine
Airlines, China Airlines, Korean Airlines
and Malaysian Airlines, join together to
form the Orient Airlines Research Bu-
reau.

1967
March May
15 March | Air Southwest Co. is incorporated. 9 May | F okker F28 Fellowship first flight.
29 March | F AA participates in NASA’s first public
demonstration of a new data-link sys-
tem using an orbiting satellite for trans-
mitting navigation data from aircraft to
ground stations.
April
1 April | U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Fokker F28 prototype PH-JHG - Source: fokker.com
begins full operations. At the same time, June
FAA ceases to be the independent Fed- 14 June | A ir Mauritius is incorporated.
eral Aviation Agency and becomes the July
Federal Aviation Administration. 7 July | A Pan American World Airways Boeing
707 makes the first fully automatic ap-
proach and landing by a four-engine jet
aircraft with passengers on board.
10 July | T he ‘International Agreement on the
Procedure for the Establishment of
Tariffs for Scheduled Air Services’ is
opened for signatures.
August
1 April | The NTSB is established as the federal 18 August | H
andley Page (BAe) Jetstream first
government’s primary accident investi- flight.
gation agency for all modes of transpor- 25 August | Antonov An-30 first flight.
tation – aviation, highway, rail, marine
and pipeline. September
20 September | F AA publishes new safety rules de-
6 April | T he last TWA Constellation is retired
signed to improve crashworthiness
from passenger service. TWA becomes and passenger evacuation standards in
the first US airline to go all-jet. transport airplanes. The new rules re-
9 April | T he Model 737 makes its first flight. quire air carriers, other commercial op-
erators, and aircraft manufacturers to
demonstrate that airplanes with more
than 44 seats are capable of permit-
ting the evacuation of a full load of pas-
sengers through only half the aircraft’s
exits in 90 seconds. FAA’s regulation of
carry-on bags begins with a require-
ment that passengers can take to their
seats only items that can be securely
stowed under a seat.
Source: Boeing November
28 April | McDonnell and Douglas companies 3 November | P an American World Airways becomes
merge to form the new McDonnell Doug- the first airline to receive FAA approval
las Corp. for full Category II operations.

1968
ICAO’s work on machine readable travel 15 July | Aeroflot Soviet Airlines and Pan Ameri-
documents begins with the establishment, by the can World Airways inaugurate twice-
Air Transport Committee of the Council, of a Panel weekly scheduled passenger service
on Passport Cards. between Moscow and New York.
Cooperation agreement between Swissair and 21 July | U .S. President Johnson signs into law
SAS renewed and extended to include KLM (KSS the Jet Noise Abatement Act.
Group). September
First air bridges for widebody doors. Paris-Orly 28 September | U nder provisions of a rule effective this
demonstrates its ability to adapt to the arrival of date, FAA requires an approved altitude
jet aircraft. alerting system to be installed on all
U.S. civil turbojet aircraft by 29 Febru-
ary 1972.
October
4 October | T upolev Tu-154 first flight.
December
28 December | T he first aircraft to be certified to CAT III
standards is the Sud Aviation Caravelle.
31 December | T upolev Tu-144 first flight.
Source: Aeroports de Paris
April
4 April | The African Airlines Association (AFRAA)
is established.
June
25 June | Finnair becomes the company’s official
name.
July
11 July | Air France, Alitalia, DHL, Lufthansa and Source: Tupolev
Sabena form the ATLAS group respon-
sible for organizing their cooperation in
the operation and maintenance of fu-
ture Boeing 747’s.

1969
Alitalia becomes the first European airline to fly April
with an “all jet” fleet. 9 April | C oncorde 002 (G-BSST) makes its first
Abu Dhabi International Airport was opened in its flight from Filton.
first form at the heart of Abu Dhabi Island. 16 April | Let L-410 Turbolet first flight.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport/Houston is May
open.
21 May | A ntonov An-26 first flight.
June
January 5 June | T upolev Tu-144 reaches for the first
17 January | The African Civil Aviation Commission time, 1 Mach.
(AFCAC) is conceived.
July
February 1 July | Effective this date, CAB selects “com-
9 February | The Boeing 747-100 makes its first muter air carrier” as its name for certain
flight. scheduled air taxi operators.
August
19 August | E mbraer is founded.
26 August | F airchild Swearingen Metroliner first
flight.
September
25 September | A drian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Rob-
ert Lynn (the D, H and L in the company
name) incorporate DHL.
Source: Boeing
October
21 February | T o keep pace with the growth of the U.S. 1 October | C oncorde 001 (F-WTSS) on its 45th test
civil aviation fleet, FAA expands the air- flight exceeds Mach 1 for the first time.
craft identification numbers available. At an altitude of 36,000 feet and 75
March miles from Toulouse, it held Mach 1.05
1 March | Korean Air is established as a private for 9 minutes from 11:29 hrs.
airline. November | B EA becomes the world’s first airline to
2 March | T he first flight of Concorde 001 (F- publish an entirely computer-produced
WTSS) from Toulouse, France takes timetable.
place (British Airways). December | E astern Air Lines puts into operations
at its terminal at Kennedy International
Airport the first computerized system
for issuing seat assignments and
boarding passes to airline passengers
as they check in at the airport.
4 December | T he Tokyo Convention (Convention on
Offences and Certain Other Acts Com-
mitted on Board Aircraft) enters into
force.
Source: BAC

1970
January September
2 January | Embraer begins operations. 11 September | President Nixon announced a compre-
21 January | The Boeing 747 makes its first commer- hensive anti-hijacking program that
cial flight from New York to London for called for:
Pan American. – The U.S. government to place special-
March ly trained, armed guards on American
4 March | Loftleidir, Salén, Luxair and some pri- commercial airline flights.
vate interests found Cargolux. – E xtending, under DOT auspices, the
use of electronic and other surveil-
30 March | L ufthansa become the first European lance techniques by U.S. flag carriers
airline to receive the Boeing 747. to all gateway airports in the U.S., and
April in other countries wherever possible.
27 April | FAA establishes the Central Flow Control – Accelerated efforts by Federal agen-
Facility at its Headquarters. cies to develop security measures,
May including new methods for detecting
21 May | The Airport and Airway Development weapons and explosives devices.
Act of 1970 places the FAA in charge of – The State Department and other ap-
a new airport aid program funded by a propriate agencies to consult foreign
special aviation trust fund and makes governments and foreign carriers on
the FAA responsible for safety certifica- anti-hijacking techniques.
tion of airports served by air carriers. – A ll countries to accept the multilateral
26 May | The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 exceeds Mach convention (to be considered at a con-
2.02 in level flight, the first commercial ference held under the auspices of the
aircraft to do so. International Civil Aviation Organiza-
July tion) providing for extradition or pun-
1 July | T WA is the first airline to offer non- ishment of hijackers.
smoking sections aboard every aircraft October
in its fleet. 11 October | F irst flight of the 747-200.
17 July |N
ew Orleans’ Moisant International Air- November
port becomes the first U.S. airport to
subject all passengers to the FAA-devel- 16 November | Lockheed L-1011 TriStar first flight.
oped anti-hijacking screening system.
31 July | FAA issues to Pan American World Air-
ways the first aviation war risk insur-
ance premium policy under a new cover-
age plan.
August
29 August | T he Douglas DC-10, the first “jumbo jet”
from Douglas, makes its first flight.
Source: Lockheed
December
16 December | T he Hague Convention for the Suppres-
sion of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft is
signed.
Source: Boeing
18 December | C reation of Airbus Industrie.

1971
Trans Com develops the 8mm film cassette. Flight lounges that can be raised and lowered
attendants can now change movies in-flight and to accommodate varying aircraft floor
add short subject programming. heights at Dulles International Airport.
29 July | A merican and United Airlines take deliv-
March ery of the first two production Douglas
25 March | First flight of Ilyushin IL-76 transport. [1] DC-10 jetliners.
29 March | A ir Southwest Co. changes its name to August | T he IATA Multilateral Control Agreement
Southwest Airlines Co. for Interline ULD Handling becomes
April effective.
2 April | The resulting complex study of the ef- September
fects of aircraft noise leads ICAO to the 3 September | T he Concorde makes its first transatlan-
adoption of Annex 16: Environmental tic crossing.
Protection.
23 September | T he Protocol for the Suppression of Un-
May lawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serv-
13 May | Concorde 001 (F-WTSS) makes its first ing International Civil Aviation, Sup-
automatic landing. plementary to the Convention for the
25 May | U.S. President Nixon signs a supplemen- Suppression of Unlawful Acts against
tal appropriations bill, which, among the Safety of Civil Aviation, is signed in
other things, kills the U.S. SST program. Montreal.
June November | A ir France officially becomes Airbus’s
18 June | Southwest Airlines inaugural flight. first customer, placing an order for six
July A300B2s with six options.
27 July | FAA puts into operation two mobile 30 November | F irst flight of the 747-200 Freighter.
[1] Source: Ilyushin

1972
UK CAA is established by Parliament as an September | T rans World Airlines receives FAA’s first
independent specialist aviation regulator. authorization to operate at Category IIIa
Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA) separates weather minimums.
into two airlines, Malaysian Airline System, and 1 September | T he British Airways Group is established,
Singapore Airlines as we know it today. which eventually results in BOAC and
BEA being dissolved on 31 March 1974.
January October
21 January | F AA commissions the first operational 1 October |M
alaysia-Singapore Airlines is split and
Category IIIa instrument landing system Malaysia introduces Malaysian Airline
at Dulles International Airport. Limited, which subsequently is renamed
February Malaysian Airline System, and takes to
the skies.
2 February | FAA institutes mandatory screening of
all airline passengers as anti-hijacking
measure.
April
30 April | Eastern Airlines begins scheduled ser-
vice of the Lockheed L-1011.
June
15 June | Effective this date, FAA lowers the num-
ber of flight attendants required on air-
liners with certain seating capacities.
One flight attendant is now required
for planes with 10-50 passenger seats,
while on larger aircraft, the ratio will be
one attendant for every 50 passenger
seats or additional fraction of 50 seats. Source: Airbus
19 June | A 24-hour worldwide stoppage of air-
27 October | B eechcraft Super King Air first flight.
line traffic declared by the IFALPA takes
place. This action, intended to drama- 28 October | T he A300, the first Airbus aircraft and
tize the need for sterner measures first widebody twin engine jetliner,
against hijackers, brings to a standstill takes off.
domestic and international airline oper- December
ations in more than 30 countries.
5 December | F AA amends Air Carriers’ Security Pro-
August grams to request 100% inspection of
9 August | Maiden flight of the serial aircraft EMB carry-on luggage to prevent hijacking
110 Bandeirante. [1] effective 6 January 1973.
[1] Source: Embraer

1973
Radar data processing gets a new upgrade. April
17 April | F ederal Express officially begin opera-
January tions.
26 January | T he Montréal Convention for the Sup- 27 April | An FAA rule imposing a virtual ban on ci-
pression of Unlawful Acts against the vilian supersonic flights over the United
Safety of Civil Aviation comes into force. States comes into effect.
29 January | E mily Howell Warner becomes the first May
woman employed as a pilot for a sched- 10 May | T he Civil Aeronautics Board publishes
uled commercial airline.
the first rule regulating smoking on air-
craft for reasons of consumer comfort
and protection. The Board requires air-
lines to provide separate sections for
smokers and nonsmokers.
June
19 June | T he U.S. and U.S.S.R. sign an agreement
on joint cooperation in the field of trans-
portation calling for exchanges of infor-
mation in areas that include the safety
and efficiency of civil aviation.
September
20 September | A Concorde prototype, in its first visit to
the United States, lands at the Dallas-Ft.
Worth International Airport.
Source: Smithsonian Institution
October
February
17 October | T he Arab-dominated Organization of
15 February | The United States and Cuba sign an anti- Petroleum Exporting Countries unites
hijacking agreement calling for the two to impose an oil embargo on the United
nations to extradite or punish any per- States, Western Europe, and Japan that
son “who seizes, removes, appropriates remains in effect until 18 March 1974.
or diverts from its normal route or activ-
ities an aircraft or vessel” of one coun- December
try and takes it to the other. 6 December | A ir France’s first Concorde, Concorde
March 201 (F-WTSB), the first production type
aircraft, carries out a flight lasting 2
21 March | Air Malta is set up by a Resolution of
hours 50 minutes.
Malta’s House of Representatives and
registered as a limited liability company 14 December | T he civil aviation organization of Latin
on 30 March 1973. American States (LACAC) is founded.

1974
Brunei International Airport becomes operational. May
Its inauguration marks an important date in the 10 May | T he first A300B2 is delivered to Air
history of civil aviation in Brunei. The airport France.
opens Brunei to the world.
January
1 January | T he Foundation Treaty is signed and the
Gulf Aviation Company becomes Gulf
Air, the national carrier of the four Gulf
states.
13 January | D allas-Fort Worth Airport officially

opens for commercial flights.
Source: Airbus
March
30 May | F AA certifies the Airbus A300.
8 March | I nauguration of Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Airport, revolutionary with its terminal June
composed of a central cylindrical body 27 June | E urocopter AS350 first flight.
and seven satellites.
August
5 August | U .S. President Nixon signs the Anti-Hi-
jacking Act of 1974 into law.
22 August | Short 330 first flight.
September | K orean Airlines becomes the first non-
European airline to place an order with
Airbus, for four A300B4s.
November
Early | I beria launches Europe’s first walk-on
air shuttle service, between Madrid and
Barcelona.
Source: Aeroports de Paris
18 November | R oyal Brunei Airlines, the country’s flag
15 March | T he A300B2 receives certification from carrier, is established.
French and German aviation authorities. December
22 March | I CAO Council adopt SARPS in Annex 17 24 December | F AA publishes a rule requiring installa-
on Security: Safeguarding Internation- tion of the Ground Proximity Warning
al Civil Aviation against Acts of Unlawful System (GPWS) on large turbojet and
Interference. turboprop airliners.
31 March | B OAC and BEA are dissolved following 27 December | A 300B4 first flight.
the formation of British Airways.

1975
Braniff is the first airline to offer video games 4 April | A regulation governing the installation
inflight (Atari). and safe operation of X-ray devices for
Founding of TAM-Transportes Aéreos Regionais by screening carry-on luggage at airports
Capitan Rolim Adolfo Amaro. becomes effective.
July
January 4 July | F irst flight of the 747SP.
24 January | Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin first flight. September | R AA is founded.
February
December
26 February | Cessna 404 Titan first flight.
19 December | A ir France takes delivery of its 1st Con-
March corde F-BVFA (205).
7 March | Yakovlev Yak-42 first flight.
26 December | T he Soviet Union inaugurates the
27 March | de Havilland Canada Dash 7 first flight. world’s first regular supersonic air-
[1]
line service, with the departure of a Tu-
April polev-144 from Moscow for Alma-Ata in
1 April | The National Transportation Safety the Kazakh Republic. The plane carries
Board becomes a completely indepen- only mail and cargo over the 2,500-mile
dent agency. route.
[1] Source: de Havilland

1976
January 24 May | Following a 3-hour 35-minute flight
14 January | B ritish Airways takes delivery of its 1st from London, the first Concorde super-
Concorde G-BOAA (206). sonic commercial airliner lands at Dulles
Airport. The French Concorde arrives
21 January | T he Concorde aircraft of both Air France from Paris approximately two minutes
and British Overseas Airways Corpora- later.
tion (BOAC) launch scheduled superson-
ic passenger services. Air France’s Con-
corde flies from Paris to Rio de Janeiro
in 7 hours and 25 minutes, including a
one-hour refuelling stop in Dakar, Sen-
egal. BOAC’s Concorde makes the flight
from London to Bahrain in 3 hours and
37 minutes.
February
4 February | U.S. Secretary of Transportation, William
T. Coleman, Jr., announces his decision
to permit the Anglo-French supersonic
transport Concorde to land in the U.S. on
a temporary, restricted basis.
Source: www.concordesst.com
March | Responding to public and congressional
concerns about near collisions in the
July
air, Administrator John L. McLucas 1 July | Northwest is the first airline approved
announces a five-point separation by FAA to install coordinated flight crew
assurance program; continued training.
enhancement of ground-based air 9 July | A ntonov An-32 first flight.
traffic control; consideration of
increased use of Instrument Flight December
Rules and radar beacon surveillance; 22 December | F irst flight of IL-86, USSR’s first wide-
possible additional requirements body and the world’s second four-en-
for carriage of radar beacons gine wide-body.
(transponders) with altitude reporting
capability; development of the Beacon
Collision Avoidance System (BCAS).
May
1 May | P an Am’s “Liberty Clipper,” one of the
new 747 SP’s, leaves New York and trav-
els east on a record breaking around the
world trip. With ninety-six passengers
and only two re-fueling stops -- at Delhi
and Tokyo -- the flight arrives back in
New York only forty-six hours from de-
parture, besting the previous mark by
some fifteen hours.
Source: Ιllyushin

1977
January | K enya Airways is established. July
10 January | FAA publishes a rule raising the maxi- 23 July | The United States and the United King-
mum number of transport aircraft pas- dom sign the “Bermuda II” agreement.
senger seats per main (Type A) emer-
gency exit from 100 to 110, effective
August
10 February 1977. The change clears 31 August | A ntonov An-72 first flight.
the way for certification of Boeing 747s September
seating over 500.
23 September | U .S. Secretary of Transportation Brock
February Adams announces proposed permanent
1 February | T he A300 becomes the first aircraft to rules for civil supersonic transport (SST)
be equipped with the Cat IIIa autoland operations in the United States.
system.
26 September | L aker Airlines’ low-cost “Skytrain”
March transatlantic service makes its first
14 March | J omo Kenyattta International Airport flight from New York to London.
takes over operations from the old air-
October | T he Reef Runway is completed at
port, Embakasi Airport.
Honolulu International Airport. It is the
27 March | T he world’s worst aviation disaster oc- first major runway in the world built
curs at Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, entirely offshore on an underwater
when a KLM Boeing 747 collides with a fringing coral reef.
Pan American 747. In total, 587 passen-
17 October | T he U.S. Supreme Court lifts the ban by
gers and crew are killed.
New York’s JFK Airport on the Concorde
April SST, clearing the way for immediate trial
13 to 26 April | T he First Air Transport Conference is flights.
held in Montreal under the auspices of 28 to 30
the International Civil Aviation Organi-
October | A Pan American World Airways Boeing
zation (ICAO), to consider a wide range
747SP sets a speed record for a round-
of economic and regulatory issues con-
the-world flight, via both Poles, cover-
cerning international civil aviation. The
ing a distance of 42,970 km (26,706
ICAO Conference formulates numerous
recommendations for use by govern- sm) in 54 hours and 7 minutes.
ments in establishing a basic framework November
and policies relating to international air 9 November | U .S. President Jimmy Carter signs into
transport services. law amendments to the Federal Aviation
May | B ritish Airways introduce an “Executive Act of 1958, one of which entitled the
Club” cabin on its Boeing 747 flights to Air Cargo Deregulation Act substantially
New York. This was a separate cabin for exempts all-cargo aircraft operations
economy passengers paying the full from CAB regulation.
fare.
22 November | C oncorde passenger service from New
June York to London and Paris begins.
10 June | U .S. Senate confirms Alfred E. Kahn as
Chairman of the CAB. Kahn’s policies at December
the CAB help to pave the way for legis- 14 December | M
il Mi-26, the largest and most power-
lation that virtually ends the economic ful helicopter ever to have gone into pro-
regulation of airlines in the U.S. duction, makes its first flight.

1978
March 24 October | U .S. President Carter signs the Airline
10 March | The United States and the Netherlands Deregulation Act of 1978 allowing im-
sign a new international aviation agree- mediate fare reductions of up to 70%
ment, based on the principle of free without CAB approval and the automat-
competition. ic entry of new airlines into routes not
protected by other air carriers. CAB’s
May | Narita Airport is open. authority over fares, routes, and merg-
June ers is to be phased out entirely before
1 June | The Tu-144 Aeroflot service from 1 No- 1983, and, unless Congress acts, CAB
vember 1977 is interrupted after 102 itself will shut down by 1 January 1985.
flights, as a result of an occurrence of a It also authorizes the use of larger air-
non-commercial flight accident. craft by commuter airlines.
September
13 September | Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma first
flight.
23 September | T he Protocol to Amend the Convention
on Damage Caused by Foreign Aircraft
to Third Parties on the Surface is adopt-
ed and signed.
October | British Airways introduces “Club
Class,” a separate premium cabin with
numerous amenities.
Source : U.S. DOT
28 October | P an American is one of first airlines to

introduce a new class of service for
business and full-fare economy passen-
gers, called Pan Am’s “Clipper Class”.
December | D elta begins transatlantic service:
Atlanta to London, introduces Medallion
Source: British Airways Service.

1979
Qantas introduces Business Class air travel March
becoming the first airline in the world to do so. 6 March | A n all-female Hawaiian Airlines’ crew op-
erates a certified U.S. scheduled flight;
the first all-female crew to do so.
Source: Qantas
TNT starts air transport activities and becomes

the first express carrier in Europe providing direct
delivery services by air.
January
14 January | B raniff Airlines begin flying leased Con-
corde supersonic airliners between
Washington Dulles and Dallas-Fort Source: Hawaiian Airlines
Worth airports, under the terms of a 15 March | S wissair becomes the first A310 cus-
unique interchange agreement with tomer.
British Airways and Air France. Since
the Concordes carried passengers be- 31 March | N
orthwest enters the transatlantic pas-
tween two American cities, they had senger market.
to be registered in the United States.
This involved FAA certification of the
Concorde and a special FAA rule allow- August | D elta is the first airline in the world to
ing the speedy re-registration of the board one million passengers in one
planes between the two European carri- city in one month (Atlanta in month of
ers and Braniff. The Braniff flights were August).
over land and therefore had to be flown October
at subsonic speeds under U.S. environ- 3 October | E urocopter AS355 first flight.
mental rules, but nevertheless cut the
flight time between Dallas-Fort Worth 18 October | T he Douglas DC-9 Super 80 twin-engine
and Europe. The service did not prove to jetliner makes its first flight.
be profitable, however, and Braniff ter-
minated it on 1st June 1980.
25 January | Southwest’s MSY service begins with
one daily HOU roundtrip. This marks
Southwest’s first scheduled interstate
flight, the first time Southwest flies
outside the State of Texas. Source: Boeing

1980
The specifications and guidance material that were discriminating against Ameri-
developed by ICAO’s Panel on Passport Cards is can airlines.
published as the first edition of Doc 9303, titled 15 February | F AA announces improved standards for
A Passport with Machine Readable Capability, the seats of airline crew members. The
which becomes the basis for the initial issuance of new rule requires the flight attendant
machine-readable passports by Australia, Canada seats to be equipped with combination
and the United States. seat belts and safety harnesses, and for
ERA is founded in Switzerland with 5 airline the seats themselves to have energy-
members. absorbing backs.
March
28 March | B ritish Aerospace Jetstream first flight.
April
8 April | A LTA (Latin American and Caribbean Air
Transport Association) is founded in Bo-
gota, Colombia.
Delta Air Lines becomes the first airline to June
make a major move from film to video in-flight 1 June | A irbus introduces the use of composite
entertainment, equipping its entire transatlantic materials on secondary structures in a
L-1011 fleet. trial using an A300.
7 June | T he first transpolar flight of a commer-
cial airline. It is accomplished by an Aer-
February
olineas Argentinas Jumbo 747. Depart-
12 to 28 ing from Buenos Aires, it makes a stop
February | The Second ICAO Air Transport Confer- in Rio Gallegos, goes over the South Pole
ence develop 32 recommendations and reaches Auckland (New Zealand).
and provide an opportunity for govern-
ments to take stock of current issues in 13 June | T he last Concorde to be produced, num-
international air transport on the basis ber 16, is delivered to British Airways.
of conclusions of two panels of experts November
which had been working since the first 9 November | D an-Air registers the last commercial
Air Transport Conference in 1977. In re- flight by a de Havilland Comet.
viewing recent developments on the December
regulation of aircraft capacity on inter-
national routes and the establishment 7 December | T he Pan American World Airways Boeing
of international fares and rates, the Con- 747 China Clipper arrives in Beijing, Chi-
ference confronted with the positions na, from John F. Kennedy International
Airport in New York after a stop in To-
of some States for a more liberal market
kyo, Japan. It marks the first time since
and those of many governments for a
1949 that a commercial flight between
firmly regulated international market.
the United States and Mainland China is
15 February | U .S. President Carter signs into law the completed.
International Air Transportation Compe-
11 December | F irst flight of A300 with digital autopi-
tition Act of 1979, designed to reduce
lot.
regulation and increase competition in
international air transportation and to 26 December | A eroflot introduces the Ilyushin Il-86
strengthen the position of the United into service on its Moscow-Tashkent
States in its dealings with foreign states route.

1981
Delta launches Frequent Flyer program. 48 hours or face permanent dismissal.
After expiration of the grace period, FAA
UPS purchases its first aircraft for use in air fires approximately 11,400 controllers.
delivery service. PATCO disbands and the controllers re-
main without a union.
March September
2 March | J apan Air Lines is the first airline to use 3 September | B ritish Aerospace 146 first flight.
a computerised flight simulator to train
26 September | T he Boeing 767-200 makes its first
its crews.
flight.
28 March | Dornier Do 228-100 first flight.
October
April 7 October | T he first A300 with a two-man crew -
30 April | PeopleExpress begins flights with a Garuda Indonesian Airways’ first Airbus
route from Newark to Columbus. aircraf m akes its initial flight.
May November
1 May | A merican introduces the AADVANTAGE 4 November | A erospatiale and Aeritalia merge their
travel awards program. two separate regional aircraft designs
into a single effort. The Cooperation
Agreement launching the ATR program
is signed in Paris.
[1] Source: Changi Airport Group
6 May | U nited launches its Mileage Plus fre-

quent flier program.
June
1 June | Short 360 first flight.
10 June | A ir France: launch customer of the
A320.
23 June | Administrator Helms announces FAA’s
decision to adopt the Threat Alert and
Collision Avoidance System, soon re-
named the Traffic Alert and Collision
Avoidance System (TCAS).
26 June | ICAO adopts Annex 18 on The Safe Trans-
port of Dangerous Goods by Air.
July
1 July | Opening of Singapore Changi Airport. [1]
August
3 August | Approximately 12,300 members of the
15,000-member PATCO go on strike. U.S.
President Reagan issues the strikers a
firm ultimatum - return to work within

1982
Air France moves into the state-of-the-art 12 May | B raniff Airlines becomes the first
terminal at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2. scheduled airline to file for protection
under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy
Air Canada becomes an industry leader in
code in the history of American civil avi-
providing inflight medical emergency kits – they
ation.
go above and beyond the first-aid kits carried by
other airlines. June
24 June | T he Boeing 747-236B operating as Brit-
ish Airways Flight 9 flies through a
January cloud of volcanic ash south of Java. All
28 January | T he FAA issues the National Airspace of its engines shut down, but the crew
System Plan, outlining its blueprint is able to restart them and make a safe
for updating and modernizing over the landing at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport
next two decades its ATC and naviga- in Djakarta, Indonesia.
tion systems, including, among other
components, the Advanced Automation September
System for air traffic, Doppler weather 3 September | B eechcraft 1900 first flight.
radar, and the Microwave Landing Sys- October
tem.
5 October | F irst flight of the 747-300.
February
29 October | A ir France discontinues its Concorde
5 February | Freddie Laker’s Laker Airways flies for service to Washington, making New
the last time. York its only Concorde service destina-
19 February | T he Boeing 757-200 makes its first tion.
flight. November | A new designation system for
April McDonnell Douglas commercial aircraft
3 April | A 310-200 first flight. combines the “M” of McDonnell and the
“D” of Douglas. The first aircraft to use
the designation is the DC-9 Super 80,
which now becomes the MD-80.
December
9 December | C essna 208 Caravan first flight.
24 December | A ntonov An-124 Ruslan first flight.
Source: Airbus
May | First ECAC-US Memorandum of

Understanding on North Atlantic pricing.
| British Airways launches into the Con-
corde charter market. Source: Antonov

1983
First Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) and emergency lighting leading to ex-
check-in desks are installed in LAX for the 1984 its aboard airliners, as well as increased
Summer Olympic Games. firefighting training and equipment for
Delta introduces computer-generated boarding airline crews.
passes and automates advance seat selection, 20 June | B ombardier Dash 8 first flight.
greatly improving the boarding process in gate July
areas. Delta is the first major U.S. carrier to meet
new federal standards reducing flyover noise in 8 July | The A300-600 makes its maiden flight.
airport neighborhoods.
January
25 January | F irst prototype of the Saab-Fairchild SF-
340 makes its maiden flight.
April
22 April | Finnair begins nonstop flights from Helsin-
ki to Tokyo using a DC-10-30. Finnair’s To-
Source: Airbus
kyo flight is the world’s only nonstop flight
between Western Europe and Japan. 22 July | The FAA announces that the Boeing 757
May and 767 models share so many common
features that a pilot who qualifies in one
23 May | T he first aircraft (Rockwell Internation-
model is automatically qualified on the
al Saberliner) to navigate across the At-
lantic entirely by use of the Global Posi- other.
tioning System (GPS) lands at Paris. 29 July | T he EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop makes
26 May | P eopleExpress starts flights from New- its maiden flight.
ark to London.
June
2 June | A ir Canada Flight 797, a McDonnell Doug-
las DC-9-32, experiences an in-flight
fire and makes an emergency landing Source: Embraer
at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Inter-
national Airport. The accident prompts November
the installation of smoke detectors 11 November | C ASA CN-235 first flight.

1984
UK and the Netherlands sign their first bilateral er things, CAB’s consumer protection
open skies agreement. functions and its authority to approve
consolidations, mergers, and antitrust
SITA’s first air-ground service, VHF AIRCOM,
exemptions for airlines.
is introduced. SITA’s Common Use Terminal
Equipment (CUTE) system launches – enabling 14 October | T he first telephone system, allowing
airlines to share check-in terminals. passengers to call during a flight, be-
gins operations by six companies.
February | The decision to use side-stick

controllers on the A320 is revealed.
24 February | First flight of Boeing 737-300.
March | Virgin Atlantic Airways is born.
| British Airways Concorde services to
Washington are extended to Miami
three days a week.
1 March | D elta strengthens ties to regional airline
partners through its new Delta Connec-
tion. program.
2 March | Airbus launches A320.
May
10 May | The 25th Session (Extraordinary) of the Source: Delta Flight Museum
ICAO Assembly approves unanimously 26 October | F AA publishes two rules to increase

Resolution A25-1 incorporating an ex- the survival chances of airline passen-
plicit recognition that the use of weap- gers encountering fire and smoke: Seat
ons against civil aircraft is prohibited. cushions must possess an outer layer
June of highly fire-resistant material and
20 June | T he Civil Aeronautics Board publishes requiring an emergency escape path
additional rules regulating smoking on marking at or near floor level.
aircraft. The provisions include a ban 30 October | U .S. President Reagan signs into law the
on smoking in commercial aircraft with Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984,
fewer than 30 passenger seats and a to- which gives DOT’s Office of Commercial
tal ban on smoking in airliners while on Space Transportation the responsibility
the ground. for promoting private sector commer-
22 June | Rutan Voyager first flight. cial space endeavours.
July November
25 July | Xiamen Airlines Co. Ltd is established. 1 November | A merican introduces the American Ea-
gle system.
August
December
16 August | The ATR 42 makes its first flight.
1 December | F AA and the National Aeronautics and
October Space Administration conduct a Con-
4 October | U .S. President signs into law the Civil trolled Impact Demonstration (CID) in
Aeronautics Board Sunset Act of 1984, which a Boeing 720 is remotely piloted
which transfers to DOT, among oth- to a prepared crash site.

1985
Nippon Cargo Airlines is established. Tokyo after wandering out of control for
more than 30 minutes. All but 4 of the
Ryanair is set up by the Ryan family.
524 persons aboard are killed, a fatality
toll higher than in any previous single-
March plane accident.
29 March | F AA publishes a rule to improve cabin September
fire protection for passengers aboard 18 September | D OT issues a rule prohibiting deceptive
aircraft operated by major airlines un- airline codesharing. The rule requires
der Federal Aviation Regulations Part airlines sharing the same two-letter
121. The rule requires that each lavatory designator code to notify passengers of
be equipped with a smoke detector, or the arrangement and identify the airline
equivalent, and that each lavatory trash actually providing the transportation.
receptacle be equipped with an auto-
matic fire extinguisher. October
22 October to
June 7 November | T he Third ICAO Air Transport Conference
6 June | U.S. FAA issues AC 120-42. This AC pro- approve 23 recommendations on differ-
vides guidance on one means of obtain- ent aspects of regulatory policies gov-
ing deviation authority from § 121.161 to erning scheduled and non-scheduled
allow two-engine airplanes to operate services, unilateral measures which af-
on routes up to 120 minutes from an ad- fect international air transport, the role
equate airport after demonstration of of governments in the tariff field, rules
specific levels of in-service experience and conditions associated with interna-
and systems reliability. TWA is the first tional tariffs, and tariff enforcement.
US airline to offer to fly the Atlantic us-
ing twin-engine aircraft (Boeing 767s), 25 October | E mirates operate its flights from Dubai
thus introducing ETOPS, or extended- to Karachi and Mumbai, using a Boeing
range twin-engine operations, to the in- 737 and an Airbus 300 B4 wet-leased
dustry. from Pakistan International Airlines.
July
9 July | A310-300 first flight. As well as its ad-
vanced forward-facing crew cockpit,
the A310-300 is the first subsonic civil
airliner to have a trim tank for extra fuel
in the tail and, through the fuel transfer
system, to control the centre of gravity
to reduce fuel consumption and drag.
It also features weight-saving carbon
brakes and advanced aluminium alloys. Source: Emirates
The A310-300 is also the first commer-
November
cial airliner to feature drag reducing
wingtip devices and composites in pri- 7 November | U .S. Secretary of Transportation Dole
mary structures, with an all-composite approves United Airlines’ acquisition of
fin. Pan American World Airways’ Pacific
routes.
August
12 August | A Japan Air Lines 747 crashes into a December
mountain about 70 miles northwest of 28 December | F okker 50 first flight.

1986
Bombardier purchases Canadair. cations link provides a dedicated voice
circuit between ATC centers in Tokyo
The U.S.S.R. formally opens its airspace to and Khabarovsk, U.S.S.R. American con-
international airlines and, as a result, most trollers at Anchorage can also commu-
services between Europe and the Far East now nicate with Khabarovsk by patching
operate nonstop via Siberia, which reduces travel through the Tokyo center.
time by about 6-7 hours.
September
Alia changes its trade name to Royal Jordanian.
19 September | S ichuan Airlines is established.
Chicago O’Hare Airport is the first airport to
surpass 50 million passengers. October
2 October | U .S. President Reagan signs into law the
Copenhagen Airport Pier B transit hall is expanded Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, which re-
and modernised – among other things it includes quires commercial airlines to provide
the world’s first ‘real’ airport shopping centre. nondiscriminatory service for passen-
gers with disabilities.
March | ANA begins scheduled international November
service with the start of a Tokyo-Guam
route. 30 November | F okker 100 first flight.
April | The European Court of Justice rules that December
air transport agreements are subject to 4 December | F irst flight of McDonnell Douglas MD-87.
the competition rules of the Treaty of
14 to 23
Rome. As a consequence, the European
December | D ick Rutan and Jeana Yeager become
Commission agrees to develop a general
the first aircraft pilots to circle the
framework to liberalize air transport
globe without landing or refueling when
regulations within the European
their experimental airplane Voyag-
Community.
er touches down at Edwards Air Force
August Base, Calif., after covering 25,000 miles
6 August | British Aerospace ATP first flight. in nine days. [1]
15 August | Pursuant to an agreement with Japan 19 December | W
estern becomes a wholly-owned sub-
and the Soviet Union, a new communi- sidiary of Delta.
[1] Source: Smithsonian Institution

1987
February | B ritish Airways is finally privatised in a
hugely oversubscribed flotation.
1 February | Continental becomes the third larg-
est US airline with the consolidation of
Frontier, People Express and New York
Air.
22 February | A320 roll-out and first flight. The A320
becomes the first airliner to fly with full
digital, computer-driven fly-by-wire
Source: London’s Royal Docks
controls and side-stick controller.
June
5 June | F AA publishes a rule requiring airlines to
develop and use approved programs to
control the amount and size of carry-on
baggage with compliance by 1 January
1988.
16 June | T he ‘International Agreement on the
Procedure for the Establishment of Tar-
iffs for Intra-European Scheduled Air
Services’ and the ‘International Agree-
ment on the Sharing of Capacity on
Intra-European Scheduled Air Services’
are opened for signatures.
July | A ir France introduces in-flight video on
all its long-haul Airbus A300s, then on
all its Boeing 747s.
16 July | A merger of British Airways with finan-
cially troubled British Caledonian is an-
nounced.
October
21 October | A madeus, an independent and neu-
Source: Airbus tral global distribution system (GDS), is
founded by 4 airlines; Air France, Iberia,
March Lufthansa and SAS.
18 March | T he first revenue flight of an airplane
equipped with an operational TCAS II
December
version of the Traffic Alert and Collision 14 December | T he EU first “package” of measures is
Avoidance System occurs. adopted to relax the established rules.
For intra-EU traffic, it limits the right of
May governments to object to the introduc-
26 May | A new FAA regulation requires airline op- tion of new fares. It also gives some
erators to equip all large passenger air- flexibility to airlines concerning seat ca-
craft with protective breathing equip- pacity sharing.
ment (PBE) for flight attendants.
19 December | E ffective this date, FAA requires a posi-
31 May | F irst landing by a DHC-7 of Brymon Air- tive baggage/passenger match on all in-
ways at London City Airport. ternational flights by U.S. airlines.

1988
ICAO begins work on establishing the most Beijing begin. The flights represent the
effective biometric identification system and first direct connection between Europe
associated means of data storage for use in MRTD and China by a Western European air-
applications, particularly in relation to document line.
issuance and immigration considerations. 25 June | C hina Eastern Airlines is founded.
LOT becomes the first carrier in the countries of July
Central and Eastern European to operate using
American airliners (Boeing 767). 1 July | A ir China Limited (“Air China”) is
founded.
UPS receives authorization from the FAA to
operate its own aircraft, thereby officially 1 July | Deregulation of the European air
becoming an airline. transport industry.
September
22 September | F AA issues a rule requiring that all
February turbine-powered airliners seating 30
17 February | Asiana is founded. passengers or more carry equipment to
19 February | First flight of Boeing 737-400. warn pilots when they encounter low-
altitude wind shear.
26 February | A 320 receives joint European certifica-
tion. 28 September | F irst flight of IL-96-300.
March October
28 March | Air France, launch customer, takes de- 27 October | F irst flight of the ATR 72.
livery of the first A320. December
April 21 December | A ntonov An-225 Mriya first flight.
23 April | A ban on smoking on U.S. airline flights
of less than two hours comes into ef-
fect. Northwest bans smoking on all
North American flights, the first major
U.S. airline to do so.
29 April | First flight of the first 747-400.
Source: Antonov
28 December | L et L-610 first flight.

30 December | F AA amends this AC in 1988 (AC 120-
42A) to permit two-engine airplanes to
Source: Boeing
operate up to 180 minutes from an ad-
equate airport. These ACs introduce the
June term “ETOPS” for those specific Extend-
2 June | Finnair direct flights from Helsinki to ed Operations.

1989
January 30 June | B oeing 737-500 first flight.
2 January | Tupolev Tu-204 first flight. July | K LM acquires a 20% interest in the US
carrier, Northwest Airlines, an important
10 January | F AA publishes a rule requiring the Traf-
step toward the creation of a worldwide
fic Alert and Collision Avoidance System
network.
(TCAS II) on all airliners with more than
30 passenger seats operating in U.S. air- August
space. 7 August | T he first Croatian air carrier, called Zagal
- actually Zagreb Airline - i s registered.
31 January | N
orthwest is launch customer of Boeing
747-400. [1] 17 August | T he first Qantas 747-400, VH-OJA ‘City
of Canberra’, touches down at Sydney
March Airport after a nonstop flight from Lon-
8 March | E vergreen Group Chairman and Founder don to Sydney. The 18,001km flight took
Dr. Chang Yung-Fa establishes EVA Air. 20 hours, nine minutes and five seconds
and established a new world distance
May | V irgin Atlantic becomes the first airline
record for a commercial aircraft.
to offer business class passengers
individual TVs with the introduction of September
Sony Video walkmans and a library of 14 September | U .S. Congress passes smoking legisla-
films. tion for domestic passenger flights.
June October
12 June | Airbus announces it has delivered 500 October | S unExpress is founded as a subsidiary
aircraft since its inception. of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa.
[1] Source: Delta Flight Museum

1990
Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) is formed. May | V irgin becomes first airline to introduce
automatic defibrillators and trained
staff to aid inflight cardiac arrest
victims.
June
1 June | T he U.S. Secretary of State and Soviet
January
Foreign Minister sign an agreement pro-
10 January | The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 makes its viding for expanded air service between
first flight.
their two countries.
July
23 July | F ollowing the first democratic elec-
tions, Zagal changes its name to Croatia
Airlines.
Source: Boeing 24 July | T he second EU “package” opens up the
12 January | Air France, UTA and Air Inter merge to market further, allowing greater flexibil-
form the Air France Group. ity over the setting of fares and capac-
ity-sharing. It also gives all EU carriers
12 January | Pegasus Airlines is founded. the right to carry an unlimited number
30 January | U.S. DOT issues an order inviting applica- of passengers or cargo between their
tions from eligible foreign airlines wish- home country and another EU country.
ing to serve U.S. cities having no single- September
plane service to the applicant’s home
countries. On 27 March, KLM Royal 25 September | T he UN votes to ban virtually all air traf-
Dutch Airlines becomes the first to re- fic with Iraq.
ceive route awards under this program. 27 September | U nited Air Lines is the first airline to in-
February troduce satellite communications for its
aircraft.
25 February | Prohibition of smoking comes into ef-
fect on all scheduled U.S. domestic October | A ir Canada become the first scheduled
flights. airline in the world to offer exclusively
March smoke-free flights between North
America and Europe.
2 March | FAA issues a final rule requiring air carri-
ers to restrict seats in exit rows to per- 1 October | J AL bans smoking on 13 routes with
sons capable of activating emergency flight times under two hours.
exits. 22 to 26
28 March | T he Boeing 737 becomes the world’s October | T he 28th Session (Extraordinary) of the
best-selling jetliner when United Airlines ICAO Assembly adopts a comprehensive
accepts delivery of the 1,832nd 737. policy with regard to noise issues.
29 March | First flight of IL-114 regional aircraft. 23 October | U nited announces the purchase of Pan
April | The European Air Traffic Control Am’s routes between the U.S. and Lon-
Harmonisation and Integration don.
Programme launched. 28 October | F irst scheduled flight of Lufthansa to
10 April | The 6,000th Boeing jetliner, a 767, is de- Tegel Airport in Berlin after German re-
livered to Britannia Airways. unification.

1991
Swissair becomes the world’s first airline to 24 May | An EL AL Boeing 747 airlifts a record-
produce a full-scale environmental audit. breaking 1,087 passengers.
June | V irgin Atlantic becomes the first airline
January | E stablishment of the Airports Council operating widebodied aircraft to offer
International (ACI). individual TV screens and a choice of
18 January | Eastern Air Lines ceases operations. channels to passengers in all classes.
February 20 June | S ecretary Skinner announces a further
12 February liberalization of the law regarding foreign
to 1 March | T he Convention on the Marking of Plas- investment in U.S. air carriers, raising the
tic Explosives for the Purpose of Detec- maximum foreign ownership of voting
tion is adopted by the International Con- stock in U.S. air carriers from 25% to 49%.
ference on Air Law. August
March 12 August | A Federal bankruptcy judge approves a
11 March | T he United States and the United King- deal under which Delta Air Lines will ac-
dom reach an agreement on airline ser- quire major Pan American assets and
vice which includes permission for Unit-
also own 45% of a downsized PAA.
ed and American to succeed Pan Am and
TWA in serving Heathrow. In return, Brit- September
ish airlines receive increased access to 25 September | B ritish Aerospace Jetstream 41 first
U.S. airports. flight.
27 March | American celebrates its 1 billionth cus-
tomer. October
April 22 October | N
orthwest pioneers the first satellite
2 April | N
orthwest and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines navigation and communication link.
begin their first joint service, twice- 25 October | A highly successful first flight for the
weekly flights between Minneapolis/ A340.
St. Paul and Amsterdam-launching their
airline alliance.
3 April | N
orthwest is first U.S. airline to fly over
the Soviet Union since World War II.
30 April | T he 1,010th Boeing 707 rolls out ending
a 35-year-old production line.
May
Source: Airbus
10 May | Bombardier CRJ100 first flight.
November
1 November | D elta purchases substantially all of Pan
Am’s transatlantic routes and the Pan
Am Shuttle making this the largest ac-
quisition of flights in airline history.
December
4 December | P an Am ceases operations.
6 December | D ornier 328 first flight.
9 December | U nited acquires Pan Am’s Latin Ameri-
Source: Bombardier can operations for $135 million.

1992
EVA Air and Virgin Atlantic Mid Class (May) 8 September | A ir Canada become the first airline in
introduce two of the very first premium economy the world to offer all its customers tele-
services. phones at arm’s reach on all of its air-
craft.
Delta introduces new in-flight technologies,
including seat-back telephones, live radio news 9 September | N
orthwest Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch
broadcasts; first U.S. airline with moving maps in Airlines agree to create what they call “a
the cabin showing aircraft’s position and route. unified global airlines system”.
29 September
to 8 October | T he 29th Session of the ICAO Assembly
January endorses a blueprint for a global satel-
1 January | K LM launches the Flying Dutchman cus- lite-based Communications, Navigation
tomer loyalty programme, the first of and Surveillance/ Air Traffic Manage-
its kind on the European mainland. ment (CNS/ATM) systems’ concept to
March replace existing line-of-sight systems.
26 March | First flight of Saab 2000. October
April | Virgin is first airline to provide child 1 October | U kraine International Airlines (UIA) is es-
safety seats. tablished.
1 April | A340-200 first flight. November | S henzhen Airlines Co., Ltd, is founded.
2 November | T he A330-300, the world’s largest twin-
engine widebody, flies for the first time.
Source: Airbus
May
17 May | Munich Airport commences operations,
Source: Airbus
moving from the former site at Munich-
Riem Airport, which was closed shortly December
before midnight on the previous day. 22 December | A fter more than 2,400 test flights, both
July versions of the long range A340, the
17 July | The United States and the European A340-200 and the A340-300, receive
Economic Community sign an agree- certification from the European Joint
ment placing certain limitations on gov- Airworthiness Authorities. It is the first
ernment subsidies for the development time that approval had been granted si-
and production of large civil aircraft. multaneously for two different aircraft
versions.
September
4 September | DOT announces that the United States
and the Netherlands have signed the
first aviation agreement under the liber-
alized “open skies” initiative.

1993
January | Hainan Airlines Co Ltd is founded. 4 April | F okker 70 first flight.
1 January | The EU “third package” of measures for May
the liberalization of the Community’s air 4 May | F irst flight of the 747-400 Freighter.
transport market enters into force. This
package introduces the freedom to pro- June
vide services within the EU. 8 June | J oel R. Goheen invents electronic ticket-
ing in the airline industry.
11 January | U.S. Department of Transportation ap-
proves Northwest/KLM commercial co- 16 June | A n A340-200 dubbed the “World Rang-
operation and integration agreement er” sets a series of records by flying
under a grant of antitrust immunity. round the world with only one stop.
KLM and Northwest now are free to join The aircraft takes off from the Paris air
together in creating a unified global air- show on 16th June and arrives in Auck-
line system, the first of its kind in the land, New Zealand, the next day after a
world. flight lasting 21 hours and 32 minutes.
The aircraft takes off again five hours
20 January | N
orthwest and KLM announce first ma- later, landing at Le Bourget after 21
jor steps toward integrating operations, hours and 46 minutes. Among the world
including creation of a Seal of Partner- records set by the A340 World Ranger:
ship logo. the first non-stop flight between Eu-
22 January | Norwegian is established. rope and New Zealand and the longest
non-stop flight by an airliner.
February
22 February | T he McDonnell Douglas MD-90 makes its
first flight.
March
11 March | A irbus A321 flies for the first time from
Hamburg, Germany.
Source: Airbus
July
14 July | A eroflot starts passenger operations
on ‘Moscow-New York’ route with IL-96-
300.
September | KLM and Northwest Airlines start

Source: Airbus
operating all their flights between
the U.S. and Europe as part of a joint
25 March | T he first A340-300 delivered to Air venture.
France. It also is the 1,000th Airbus air- October
craft to be handed over in the consor-
21 October | T he A330-300 becomes the first airliner
tium’s history.
to achieve simultaneous European and
April American certification.

1994
International Air Cargo Forum Association is August
reorganized and registered in the Cayman Islands 15 August | F AA issues a regulation which, for the
as The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), first time, sets length of duty and rest
a not-for-profit corporation. requirements for airline flight attend-
American launches its first non-smoking ants. Under the rule, attendants can re-
transatlantic flight. main on duty for as many as 14 hours
within a 24-hour period but will require
a rest period of at least 9 hours after
January that duty period.
18 January | Southwest and McCaw Cellular’s Clair- September
com Communications unveil the world’s
4 September | K ansai International Airport is inau-
first broadly available air-to-ground
gurated. It is the world’s first airport
commercial fax and data service
located 4 km (2.5 sm) offshore on a
through the AirOne Communications
man-made island, covering some 500
Network.
hectares in Osaka Bay.
27 January | L ufthansa takes delivery of the first
13 September | A 300-600 Super Transporter first flight.
A321.
February November | B ritish Airways Concorde services to
Washington are discontinued after 18
15 February | Northwest and KLM introduce World years of operation.
Business Class. They are the first air-
1 November | U nited launches E-Ticket on Shuttle by
lines from two different countries to of-
United routes.
fer a joint international service product.
April | C anadian Airlines has the distinction 23 November to
of being the first airline in the world to 6 December | T he Fourth ICAO Worldwide Air Trans-
have a website on the Internet (www. port Conference conduct a compre-
cdnair.ca). It is given recognition for hensive examination of all facets of the
not only being the first airline website economic regulation of international
in the world but also the first with air transport (developed by the Study
transactional capabilities, such as flight Group of Experts on Future Regulatory
arrival/departure and fare information. Arrangements (GEFRA) and the Secre-
June tariat) since the 1940s, ranging from
route, traffic and operational rights to
12 June | Boeing 777 first flight.
“doing business” issues like ground han-
dling, sales and marketing and com-
puter reservation systems. It reaches
conclusions concerning ten specific
aspects and identified eight areas for
further study. The theme of this Confer-
ence was “International Air Transport
Regulation – Present and Future”.
December
Source: Boeing 16 December | A ntonov An-70 first flight.
23 June | Antonov An-38 first flight.
19 December | R ecognizing a need for ETOPS diversion
July authority between 120 and 180 minutes,
5 July | Frontier Airlines operations begin with the U.S. FAA reinstates the 138-minute
two Boeing 737-200s. provision by issuing EPL 95-1.

1995
British Midland becomes the first airline to offer a 10 August | I PTN N-250 first flight.
booking service with payment over the internet, 11 August |M
aiden Flight of the ERJ 145.
CyberSeat.
Qamdo Bamda Airport in Tibet China holds the
official title of having the world’s longest runway
at a staggering 5,500 metres in length.
January Source: Embraer

1 January | D elta is the first U.S. airline to voluntari- 16 August | A Concorde sets a new speed record for
ly ban smoking on all flights. a round-the-world flight. It returns to
John F. Kennedy International Airport
31 January | M
arking a new era in the airline indus-
in New York, New York, after a journey
try, Southwest becomes one of the first
lasting 31 hours 27 minutes, passing
major airlines to offer Ticketless Travel
through Toulouse, France; Dubai, Unit-
to its Customers systemwide.
ed Arab Emirates; Bangkok, Thailand;
February Guam; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Acapulco,
24 February | The Governments of Canada and the Mexico.
United States sign a new Air Transport 25 August | T he A319 successfully completes its
Agreement reflecting the open skies maiden flight.
concept.
March | easyJet is founded.
26 March | The Schengen Agreement comes into
force.
May
17 May | D elivery of the first Boeing 777 to Unit-
ed Airlines.
30 May | T he Boeing 777 becomes the first air- Source: Airbus
plane in aviation history to earn U.S. FAA 28 August | a irBaltic Joint Venture Agreement is
approval to fly extended-range twin- signed.
engine operations (ETOPS) at service November
entry.
28 November | T he McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 makes
June | UK Government reaches agreement the first safe, automated landing of a
with the U.S. Government on a new transport aircraft using engine thrust.
‘mini-deal’ annex to the Bermuda 2 air December
services agreement, which secures 27 December | A laska Airlines becomes the first U.S.
US approval for British Airways’ carrier to offer online ticketing via the
outstanding codeshare requests. Internet.
1 June | Air Canada goes online for the first time.
August
1 August | U.S. DOT announces the availability of
a Global Positioning System (GPS) sig-
nal specification defining performance
standards for civil aviation use.

1996
CANSO - the Civil Air Navigation Services March | T he Central Flow Management Unit
Organisation - is founded. (CFMU) becomes fully responsible for
air traffic flow management across
EUROCONTROL Member States. In
addition, the Concept of the Flexible Use
of Airspace (FUA) is adopted.
8 March | C ebu Pacific Air enters the aviation in-
dustry.
Delta is the first airline to offer in-seat power and 15 March | F okker goes into bankruptcy.
live broadcast television programming. May
American adds inflight laptop computer 7 May | D OT announces that about 80% of non-
capabilities to its aircraft and announces that it stop scheduled U.S. airline flights be-
will equip certain aircraft with defibrillators. tween the United States and foreign
countries will be free of smoking as of
1st June.
February
June
29 February | WestJet, a Canadian airline, begins op-
5 June | T he Arab Civil Aviation Commission
erations.
(ACAC) is established on 7 February
1996, when its Agreement came into
force, and its first General Assembly
was held. Twenty-two States have rati-
fied the Convention.
29 February | A s part of a continuing “open skies” ini-

tiative, DOT announce a U.S.- German
agreement relaxing limitations on air
travel between the two countries.

1997
American Airlines becomes the first airline to
expand ticketless travel to all transatlantic flights.
China Eastern Airlines becomes the first listed
company in Chinese civil aviation industry (Listed
on the Hong Kong, New York and Shanghai stock
exchanges).
Delta is the first airline to board more than 100
million passengers in a year.
Relaunch of Qatar Airways.
Ryanair launches its first four European routes
Source: Star Alliance
with services from London Stansted to Stockholm
Skavsta and Oslo Torp, and with low-fare flights July
from Dublin to Paris Beauvais and Brussels
31 July | The 737-800 makes its first flight, with
Charleroi.
Boeing Capts. Mike Hewett and Jim
SITA’s first common-use kiosk deployments take McRoberts at the airplane’s controls.
place and the first customers are Northwest
Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
August
1 August | T he Boeing Company, along with its
North American component, merges
February with McDonnell Douglas Corp.
9 February | The first Next-Generation Boeing 737, a 13 August | A 330-200 first flight.
737-700, makes its first flight.
Source: Boeing
April | Introduction in the EU of the freedom

to provide “cabotage”: the right for an Source: Airbus
airline of one Member State to operate a September
route within another Member State.
17 September | A ntonov An-140 first flight.
2 April | A Boeing 777-200 sets a record for fly-
ing around the world, eastbound, in 41 October
hours and 59 minutes. 16 October | B oeing 777-300 first flight.
May December
14 May | A ir Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Air- 17 December | B oeing delivers the first Next-Genera-
ways International and United Airlines tion 737-700 to launch customer South-
launch the Star Alliance network. west Airlines.

1998
January July
22 January | The Boeing 737-600 - the smallest 4 July | The ERJ 135 makes its maiden flight.
member of the Next-Generation 737 air- 6 July |H
KIA commences operations. The first
plane family - makes its first flight. flight landed is Cathay Pacific CX889
31 January | First flight Bombardier Dash 8 Q400. from New York, which touched down at
0627. The first departing flight is CX907
April for Manila, which left HKIA at 07:19.
1 April | A 330-200 becomes the first airliner to
receive simultaneous, triple type certifi- August
cation by the European Joint Aviation Au- 2 August | F irst flight of the Boeing 757-300.
thorities (JAA), Federal Aviation Adminis- September
tration (FAA) and Transport Canada.
2 September | B oeing 717 first flight.
22 April | The first 737-800 is delivered to launch
customer Hapag-Lloyd of Germany.
May
1 May | N
orthwest completes KLM stock repur-
chase.
Source: Boeing
June
22 September | U nited is the first airline to offer elec-
21 June | T he Convention for the Marking of Plas- tronic ticketing on around-the-world
tic Explosives for the Purpose of Detec- flights.
tion enters into force. October
30 June | Kuala Lumpur International Airport KLIA 8 October | O slo Airport (OSL) Norway’s main airport
opens its doors. [1] is opened.
[1] Source: Malaysia Airports

1999
February July | J etBlue reveals that all its aircraft
1 February | American Airlines, British Airways, Cana- will offer 24 channels of live satellite
dian Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and television at every seat, a first for the
Qantas Airways implement oneworld airline industry.
global alliance. 1 July | T ax-free sales are discontinued on
March flights in the European Union area.
5 March | U nited becomes first U.S. airline to offer September
customers in first class a seat that con- 1 September | N
ext-Generation 737s are certified for
verts to a bed, the United First Suites. 180-minute ETOPS Operation.
May 16 September | A laska Airlines offers the world’s first
27 May | B ombardier CRJ700 series first flight. [1] online check-in.
28 May | The new Montreal Convention, formally October
entitled Convention for the Unification 9 October | First flight of Boeing 767-400ER.
of Certain Rules for International Car-
riage by Air, is signed. This new conven- December | K LM is the world’s first airline to
attain ISO 14001 certification for its
tion is intended to replace the above-
Environmental Management System.
described Warsaw System.
3 December | U.S. Department of Transportation
28 May | T he first flights of Aegean Airlines are grants antitrust immunity to tripartite
performed. alliance of Northwest, KLM and Alitalia.
June 9 December | T he last Classic 737 is rolled off the
22 June | A ir France and Delta Air Lines sign an ex- Renton, Wash. assembly line, ending a
clusive long-term strategic agreement. production run of 1,988 airplanes.
[1] Source: Bombardier

2000
January | F ormal launch of the ATM 2000+
Strategy.
| British Airways announces the introduc-
tion of a new cabin, World Traveller Plus.
Services between London and New York
JFK are to include both the Club World
‘Lounge in the Sky’, the world’s first ful-
ly flat bed in business class, and World
Traveller Plus by Summer 2000.
| B ritish Airways launches the world’s Source: Delta Air Lines
first commercial interactive TV service 27 June | Embraer ERJ 140 maiden flight.
offered by an airline.
30 June | L ion Air starts operations.
February
11 February | JetBlue commences operations. July
25 July | A ir France Concorde F-BTSC crashes in
Paris due to engine failure after a tyre
burst, with the loss of 109 people on
board and 4 on the ground.
August
3 August | F irst flight of the Next-Generation 737-
900.
25 February | X ian MA60 first flight. 16 August | C AA and DGAC officially withdraw Con-
corde’s Certificate of Airworthiness.
March
31 August | V irgin Blue operates its first flight from
21 March | At the request of the industry, the U.S.
Brisbane to Sydney.
FAA issues ETOPS Policy Letter (EPL) 20-
1, 207 Minute ETOPS Operation Approval December
Criteria. 1 December | N
orthwest becomes the first major net-
June work carrier to offer an Internet check-
in program through its web site,
14 June | A ir Canada and United Airlines introduced
nwa.com. (Service is available for all
the world’s first interline electronic tick-
customers flying domestically).
et.
22 June | T he CEOs of Aeromexico, Air France, Del-
ta Air Lines and Korean Air meet in New
York to announce the formation of Sky-
Team.

2001
Ryanair selects its first Continental European May
base at Brussels Charleroi Airport. 1 May | T he Multilateral Agreement on the Lib-
eralization of International Air Trans-
portation (MALIAT) is signed in Wash-
January ington D.C. by Brunei Darussalam, Chile,
1 January | A ir Canada and Canadian Airlines Inter- New Zealand, Singapore and the United
national Ltd. officially merge. States of America.
10 January | A merican announces that it has agreed September
to purchase substantially all the assets 11 September | N
ineteen radical Islamic extremists with
of Trans World Airlines, Inc. the group al Qaeda penetrate security
at three major airports, seizing four U.S.
domestic airliners, and turning three of
15 January | GOL begins its operations.
the aircraft into missiles that destroy
March the World Trade Center in New York City
27 March | A thens International Airport Inaugura- and damage the Pentagon in Arlington,
tion by the Prime Minister, C. Simitis, Virginia. Passengers on the fourth plane
in the presence of the President of the fought the hijackers, causing the plane
Hellenic Republic, C. Stefanopoulos. to crash in a Pennsylvania field.
October | S ingapore Airlines, first to offer
audio and video on demand (AVOD)
capabilities on KrisWorld in all classes.
November
7 November | A ir France and British Airways re-intro-
duce scheduled supersonic Concorde
services between Paris-New York and
London-New York, respectively.
7 November | S abena declares bankruptcy and ceases
Source: Athens International Airport operations.
29 March | I ncheon Airport officially opens. 16 November | T he Convention on International Inter-
April | A merican Airlines completes acquisition ests in Mobile Equipment and the Pro-
of TWA’s assets. tocol to the Convention on International
Interests in Mobile Equipment on Mat-
23 April | Airbus A340-600 first flight.
ters specific to Aircraft Equipment is
adopted at Cape Town.
19 November | T he U.S. President signs the Aviation
and Transportation Security Act, which
among other provisions, establishes a
new agency responsible for aviation se-
curity - the Transportation Security Ad-
ministration (TSA), within DOT.
Source: Airbus

2002
January | R educed Vertical Separation Minima March
(RVSM) is introduced. 31 March | S wissair stops flying after 71 years and
15 January | Airbus A318 takes off on maiden flight. SWISS begins its operations.
April
1 April |N
ormal operations using aircraft that
meet ICAO “Chapter 2” noise standards
cease in Europe.
June
24 June |N
orthwest announces an industry first
- a new online self-service product that
allows customers to make reservation
changes and complete E-Ticket
Source: Airbus exchanges online at the airline’s
15 January | Crossair assumes commercial respon- website. This new functionality also
sibility for most of the European routes includes fares purchased online.
formerly operated by Swissair. 28 June |W
ith the U.S. Department of
February Transportation’s approval, SkyTeam
becomes the first global airline alliance
11 February | The ultra-long range A340-500, Airbus’
with antitrust immunity for routes
longest range airliner to date, takes off
across both the Atlantic and Pacific
on its maiden flight at 10:25 hours local Oceans as Korean Air and Delta Air Lines
time. receive antitrust immunity.
July
12 July | E ASA is established.
November
5 November | T he European Commission welcomes
the ruling of the European Court of Jus-
Source: Airbus tice in the so-called “open skies” cases,
13 February | T SA assumes responsibilities for avia- which address the legality of bilat-
tion security from the FAA. eral agreements concluded between
eight EC Member States and the United
19 February | Embraer 170 first flight. States.
13 November | N
orthwest adds another industry first
to its self-service check-in products:
Internet Check-In and E-Service Center
airport kiosks by expanding self-service
check-in to customers traveling with
electronic tickets from the United
States and Canada to Europe and Asia,
Source: Embraer including connections through Tokyo’s
Narita Airport.
2003
McCarran Las Vegas airport announces it is identification information into
implementing a baggage-tracking system that passports and other MRTDs.
uses Radio-frequency identification (RFID) bag 20 May | SpaceShipOne first flight.
tags, making McCarran one of the first airports to 31 May | A ir France concludes Concorde passen-
use the RFID technology airport-wide. ger services with an AF001 flight from
New York (F-BTSD), and a-round-the-
January Bay of Biscay Charter (F-BVFB).
15 January | Connexion by Boeing service aboard a June
Lufthansa 747-400 provides commer- 1 to 3 June | T he 59th IATA Annual General Meeting
cial airline passengers the chance to (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit
experience in-flight broadband Internet (WATS), agree to launch a global IATA
access for the first time. Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program
from 1 July 2003.
February
24 February | The 777-300ER completes its first 14 June | F irst flight of the Embraer 175 proto-
type.
flight.
July | E tihad Airways is set up by Royal (Amiri)
Decree.
| E nd of the SARS global epidemic.
September
29 September | I ATA rolls out worldwide Safety Audit
Programme - Qatar Airways is First
participant.
October
14 October | T he Concorde breaks its own record for
Source: Boeing
a trans-Atlantic flight with a hop from
March London to Boston that lasts just three
1 March |H omeland Security Act (November hours, five minutes and 34 seconds.
2002) moves TSA into the new Depart-
24 October | B ritish Airways withdraws Concorde,
ment of Homeland Security.
signalling the closure of the world’s only
17 March | World Health Organisation (WHO) issues supersonic passenger services. The
travel advisory and implements precau- last scheduled commercial flight is BA2
tionary world-wide directives in order to from JFK.
avoid further spread of SARS.
28 October | L aunch of Air Arabia.
24 to 28 March | T he Fifth ICAO Worldwide Air Transport November
Conference conclude by approving by 4 November | T he New Montreal Convention comes
acclamation a declaration of global into force.
principles to create an environment
in which international air transport 26 November | F inal ever Flight of Concorde : G-BOAF
may develop and flourish in a stable, departs from Heathrow heading to
place of her birth, Filton Airfield.
efficient and economical manner
without compromising safety and
December
security and while respecting social and 12 December | T he Vision 100 - Century of Aviation Re-
labour standards. authorization Act, is signed into law
endorsing the concept of a Next Gen-
May | I CAO adopts a global, harmonized eration Air Transportation System
blueprint for integrating biometric (NextGen).

2004
Morocco signs open skies agreement with the use self-service (CUSS) kiosks at air-
European Union. The liberalization results in a ports; 3) bar coding technology for
massive influx of low-cost airlines on Moroccan boarding documents; 4) radio frequency
routes. technology for baggage management
by developing standards and an indus-
.aero launches. SITA sponsors the .aero Top-
try implementation program; and 5) au-
Level Domain name on behalf of the aviation
tomated interlining of passenger and
community. .aero is reserved exclusively for
cargo traffic by restructuring essential
aviation.
back-office components, including au-
tomated fare quotation, posted prices,
January | British Airways’ first transatlantic code trusted prorate and machine-readable
share flights with American Airlines to fare construction.
and from the UK opens for sale on daily
21 June | S paceShipOne is the first non-govern-
flights from Manchester to New York
ment built spacecraft to transport a
and Chicago.
person into space and return safely to
March | Single European Skies (SES I) legislative earth.
package is adopted.
28 June | S ingapore Airlines inaugurates the
12 March | Embraer 190 Maiden Flight.
world’s longest commercial daily non-
May stop flight between Singapore and New-
5 May | The AIR FRANCE KLM Group is born. On ark (serving New York) - an 18-hour,
this day Air France redeemed the con- 9,539 sm (15,348 km) journey over the
ditions of its share bid, allowing for the North Pole with its first Airbus A340-
merger between Air France and KLM. 500.
19 May | W
izz Air first flight takes off from Kato- July
wice. 1 July | V ueling commences operations.
25 May | Q antas’s new low-cost domestic airline, December
Jetstar, commences operations. 7 December | T he Embraer 195 commercial airliner
makes its first flight at Embraer’s Sao
June José dos Campos site. [1]
6 to 8 June | The 60th IATA Annual General Meeting
15 December | D OT unveils the Integrated Plan for the
(AGM) and World Air Transport Summit
Next Generation Air Transportation Sys-
(WATS) adopts a Resolution on Business
tem, which lays out goals, objectives,
Simplification. The five main priority ar-
and requirements necessary to create
eas identified for action are:
the NextGen system.
1) electronic ticketing (ET); 2) the ag-
gressive implementation of common 17 December | A ntonov An-148 first flight.
[1] Source: Embraer

2005
2D standard for paper bar code boarding passes is 11 March | C hina’s first private airline, Okay Air-
established. lines, has its maiden revenue flight.
April
27 April | A 380, the 21st century flagship, suc-
January
cessfully completes its first flight. [1]
4 January | The McCarran Airport in Las Vegas air-
port starts offering wireless internet May
service at no charge. The signal is avail- 14 May | A n AS350 B3 climbs to 3,000 meters /
able in the boarding areas and most oth- 9,900 ft in 2 minutes 21 seconds and
er public areas. At the time, this was the makes a world record landing on Mount
largest [2 million square feet (180,000 Everest.
m2)] free wireless Internet installation 24 May | S piceJet commences operations.
in the world.
June
28 January | B oeing gives the 7E7 Dreamliner its of- 15 June | C ontinental becomes the first U.S. pas-
ficial model designation number of 787, senger airline to initiate flights to main-
following an offer by the People’s Re- land China in nearly 20 years as it inau-
public of China to buy 60 Boeing 787 gurates new daily service from its New
Dreamliners. York hub at Newark Liberty Internation-
al Airport to Beijing.
29 January | N
onstop flights between mainland Chi-
na and Taiwan take-off for the first time September
since 1949. 28 September | U .S. Federal Aviation Administration is-
February sues the first airworthiness certificate
for a commercial unmanned aerial ve-
17 February | O pening day of the new Central Japan hicle (UAV), the General Atomics Altair.
International Airport (Centrair). JL3201
bound for Fukuoka is the first JAL flight November
to leave the new airport. 10 November | T he Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner estab-
lishes a new world record for nonstop
March distance by a commercial airplane, fly-
8 March | T he first Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner ing 11,664 nautical miles in 22 hours and
completes its first flight. 42 minutes from Hong Kong to London.
[1] Source: Kostas Iatrou

2006
January | Airports Council International (ACI) September
officially launches the Airport Service 1 September | T he Boeing 737-900ER makes it first
Quality (ASQ) Survey. flight from the Renton Municipal Airport
in Renton, Washington.
February | EUROCONTROL launches the new 28 September | S uvarnabhumi Airport officially opens
European Safety Programme (ESP). to replace Don Muang airport.
4 February | Madrid Terminal 4 opens with a surface
area of over 750,000 m2 and capacity
for 35 million passengers a year and 120
flights an hour.
8 to 11
February | T he American adventurer, Steve Fos-
sett, breaks the record for the absolute
longest-distance flight without landing
by taking off from the Kennedy Space
Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 8
February, circumnavigating the world
eastbound, and, after passing over
Florida, continuing across the Atlantic
Ocean for a second time to land in Bour-
nemouth, England, after a flight of 76
hours 43 minutes, covering 42,469.46
km (26,373.54 miles).
March
13 March | Inaugural flight of Volaris.
17 March | Steve Fossett flies the GlobalFlyer to Source: Airports of Thailand
one more major aviation record: The Ab-
solute Distance Over a Closed Circuit. November
Fossett started in Salina, Kansas on 14 1 November | A ir Transport News is launched.
March and flew eastbound around the
world. Upon leaving Japan he flew south
and then tracked along the Equator in
order to maximize the distance while
crossing the Pacific Ocean. He landed
in Salina, Kansas on 17 March after tra-
versing a total of 25,294 miles (40,707
km) to set a new Absolute Distance Over
a Closed Circuit Record.
August December | K LM is the world’s first airline to
4 August | IndiGo starts services with a flight from introduce self-service transfer kiosks at
New Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati. which transfer passengers at Schiphol
27 August | IAir India and Indian merger attains offi- can print their own boarding passes.
cial status as National Aviation Company 12 December | A irbus A380 receives joint EASA & FAA
of India Ltd. Type Certification.

2007
January September
4 January | ATR delivers to the Indian carrier, King- 18 to 28
fisher Airlines, the world’s first tur- September | T he main aims of the 36th Session of
boprop aircraft equipped with an In- the ICAO General Assembly, held in Mon-
Flight Entertainment system (IFE). treal, are to enhance the safety, secu-
This aircraft is also the first turboprop rity, sustainability and efficiency of the
equipped with Light Emitting Diodes global air transport system. The accom-
(LED) in the whole cabin. plishments of ICAO since its last General
Assembly in 2004 can be summarized
February as follows: 1) a plan for strengthening
27 February | SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) is es- aviation security worldwide; 2) the ex-
tablished under Council Regulation (EC) pansion of the Universal Safety Over-
219/2007. sight Audit Programme (USOAP); 3) the
streamlining and creation of air routes;
April 4) new standards to protect the envi-
30 April | U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement is ronment; 5) progress towards the liber-
signed. alization of air transport worldwide; and
6) implementing new legal instruments.
June
October
3 to 5 June | The 63rd IATA Annual General Meeting
(AGM) and World Air Transport Summit 25 October | T he world’s first A380 passenger flight
takes off from Changi Airport. Singa-
(WATS), held in Vancouver, issues five
pore Airlines flight SQ380 departs for
main challenges to drive the air trans-
Sydney, Australia. [1]
port industry towards its vision of zero
emissions. December
July 4 December | C ontinental teams with the Transporta-
tion Security Administration to be the
1 July | SWISS becomes a fully owned subsid- first U.S. carrier to launch a paperless
iary of Lufthansa. boarding pass pilot program that allows
August passengers to receive boarding passes
electronically on their cell phones or
14 August | First flight of IL-96-400T. PDAs.
[1] Source: Sydney Airport

2008
Delta is the first U.S. airline to announce In-flight May
wi-fi for its domestic mainline fleet. 19 May | S ukhoi Superjet 100 first flight.
June
January | American introduces a mobile version of 1 to 3 June | T he 64th IATA AGM and WATS held in Is-
AA.com. tanbul. IATA announces the end of the
February paper ticket era with the adoption of
1 February | An Airbus A380 aircraft successfully 100% electronic ticketing worldwide.
completes the world’s first ever flight by
a commercial aircraft using a liquid fuel
processed from gas (Gas to Liquids-GTL).
24 February | Boeing, Virgin Atlantic and GE Aviation
conduct the first commercial aviation
flight using a sustainable biomass-to-
liquid fuel mixed with traditional kero-
sene-based jet fuel.
Source: IATA
March
20 March | Emirates is the first airline in the world 13 June | U .S. FAA issues regulation AC No 120-
to commercially launch an in-flight mo- 42B that allows beyond 240-minute
bile telephone service. ETOPS on a case-by-case basis.
26 March | The world’s largest airport terminal, Bei- 25 June | S ingle European Skies Second Package
jing Capital Airport Terminal 3, opens. (SES II) is adopted.
July
28 July | First Airbus A380 enters Emirates’ fleet.
September
12 September | N
Z 8 to San Francisco, renamed Aspire I,
takes part in a world’s first test flight to
demonstrate the potential for signifi-
cantly reduced carbon emissions under
optimal flight conditions.
28 September | F irst Airbus final assembly line outside
Europe inaugurated in Tianjin, China.
Source: Beijing Capital International Airport
October
28 March | Heathrow Terminal 5 is officially opened 29 October | N
orthwest merges with Delta.
by Her Majesty, The Queen.
November
30 March | U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement is 28 November | C omac ARJ 21 first flight.
applied.
December
April
15 December | A zul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S.A. inau-
22 April | At the global Aviation and Environment
gurates its services.
Summit, commercial aviation industry
leaders sign a declaration on climate 30 December | A ir New Zealand successfully completes
change to lead towards carbon neutral the world’s first commercial aviation
growth and a totally sustainable flight powered by the sustainable sec-
industry. ond-generation biofuel jatropha.

2009
March September
31 March | The Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) 3 September | A greement is signed in Vienna with new
Action Plan is launched (ACI Europe, partner, Lufthansa. Austrian Airlines be-
CANSO, EUROCONTROL and IATA). comes member of the Lufthansa Group.
April November
20 April 12 November | A irbus A330 is first airliner to be certi-
to 2 May | A Special Group on the moderniza- fied for ETOPS “beyond 180 minutes”.
tion of the Rome Convention develops
two draft Conventions: 1) Convention December
on Compensation for Damage to Third 3 December | T he first Solar Impulse aircraft, HB-SIA.
Parties, Resulting from Acts of Unlaw- It is the first solar-powered aircraft
ful Interference Involving Aircraft; 2) capable of flying both day and night
Convention on Compensation for Dam- thanks to batteries charged by solar
age Caused by Aircraft to Third Parties. power that provide it with power dur-
These two drafts are considered and ad- ing darkness. It makes its first flight, a
opted at the International Conference short hop of 350 meters, in Switzerland.
on Air Law on Compensation for Damage
15 December | T he 787 Dreamliner makes its first
Caused by Aircraft to Third Parties Aris-
flight from Paine Field in Everett, Wash.
ing from Acts of Unlawful Interference
under the control of Capt. Mike Carriker
or from General Risks, held at Montreal.
and Capt. Randy Neville. Takeoff occurs
May at 10:27 a.m. Pacific time.
20 May | ASEAN agrees on Multilateral Agreement
on Air Services.
June
1 June | f lydubai makes its inaugural commer-
cial flight with a flight to Beirut.
5 June | T AP becomes the first airline in the
world to launch the IATA carbon offset
programme.
15 June | A CI Europe launches Airport Carbon Ac-
creditation, allowing for the assess-
ment and recognition of participating
airports’ efforts to manage and reduce
their CO2 emissions. This same year
Frankfurt Airport becomes the first air-
port to receive its accreditation status.
Source: Boeing
31 December | U .S. Federal Aviation Administration ap-

proves a single operating certificate for
Delta and Northwest, allowing the air-
lines to begin fully integrating sched-
ules, routes, airfares and reservation
systems.

2010
January September
26 January | R evolutionary Air New Zealand 777-300 10 September | T he Diplomatic Conference on Aviation
interiors publicly unveiled including the Security in Beijing adopts two interna-
Economy Skycouch and Premium Econ- tional air law instruments for the sup-
omy Spaceseat. pression of unlawful acts relating to civil
aviation: the Convention on the Suppres-
February
sion of Unlawful Acts Relating to Interna-
8 February | B oeing 747-8 Freighter completes first tional Civil Aviation (prevailing over the
flight. above-mentioned Montréal Convention
of 23 September 1971 and the Protocol
completed in Montréal on 23 September
1971 and signed on 24 February 1988)
and the Protocol Supplementary to the
Convention for the Suppression of Unlaw-
ful Seizure of Aircraft (supplementing the
above-mentioned Convention signed at
The Hague on 16 December 1970).
Source: Kostas Iatrou 28 September
to 8 October | In the 37th ICAO Assembly, ICAO, the U.S.
March Department of Transportation, the Eu-
4 March | T he ATR 42-600 pre-series aircraft suc- ropean Union and the International Air
cessfully takes to the sky for the first Transport Association formally agree to
time in Toulouse. create a Global Safety Information Ex-
April change (GSIE). In addition, ICAO Member
States agree to historic agreement on
7 April | T his morning at 10:27, the Solar Impulse aviation and climate change.
HB-SIA takes off from Payerne (VD) air-
field on its maiden flight. Under the eyes October
of thousands of spectators from all over 1 October | U nited Continental Holdings, Inc., for-
Switzerland, Solar Impulse HB-SIA slowly merly UAL Corporation, announces to-
climbs to 1200 meters. day that a wholly-owned subsidiary has
merged with Continental Airlines, Inc.,
15 to 22 April | E yjafjallajokull volcano erupts in Iceland
and that Continental Airlines and United
causing widespread disruptions in Euro-
Air Lines, Inc. are now wholly owned sub-
pean airspace.
sidiaries of United Continental Holdings,
May | The first airport RFID baggage handling Inc., creating a world-class global airline.
system, which stores and sorts data
28 to 31
on all luggage, is installed at Aalborg
October | L eaving in the early evening from
Airport, Denmark.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on 28
July October and arriving at the same place in
21 July | F inal approval by the U.S. Department the early dawn of 31 October, Dr. Kostas
of Transportation of the application for Iatrou –the co-founder and Managing
antitrust immunity for the oneworld al- Director of Air Transport News–
liance’s transatlantic carriers, American completes a Round-The-World trip with
Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia SkyTeam in 60 hours and 47 minutes
and Royal Jordanian, and the joint busi- (The actual itinerary appears as follows:
ness agreement (JBA) between the US, Amsterdam – Seoul – Sydney – Los
UK and Spanish companies. Angeles – Minneapolis – Amsterdam).

2011
January July
24 January | British Airways and Iberia merge, cre- 15 July | L ufthansa launches the world’s first ever
ating the International Airlines Group daily commercial passenger flights us-
(IAG). ing biofuel. The four return daily flights
between Hamburg and Frankfurt are the
February first in the world to use a biofuel blend
9 February | Norwegian becomes the first airline to using 50% Hydro-processed Esters and
offer in-flight wi-fi on European routes. Fatty Acids (HEFA).
March 20 July | A MR Corporation announces largest air-
17 March | UN Security Council approves ‘No-Fly craft order in history with Boeing and
Zone’ over Libya. Airbus. Under the new agreements,
American plans to acquire 460 narrow-
20 March | Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental conducts
body, single-aisle aircraft.
successful first flight.
September
28 September | A thens International Airport’s Photovol-
taic Park, the largest unified PV instal-
lation at an airport worldwide, officially
launches operation. [1]
October
26 October | A ll Nippon Airways makes aviation histo-
ry today by operating the first ever pas-
senger flight of the Boeing 787 Dream-
liner.
Source: Boeing
December
May
1 December | A ir Transport Association changes name
4 May | Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo’s First to Airlines for America.
“Feathered” flight marks latest Mile-
stone for Virgin Galactic. 12 December | B oeing announces today that it has
received type-design approval from
June the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
23 June | AirAsia orders 200 Airbus A320neo air- (FAA) for up to 330-minute extended
craft. operations (ETOPS) for its 777 fleet.
[1] Source: Athens International Airport

2012
January September
25 January | Largest ever aircraft acquisition in 6 September | Q antas and Emirates today announced
Europe: Norwegian purchases 222 new a new global aviation partnership that
aircraft. will give their customers a seamless
Australian and international network,
February
exclusive frequent flyer benefits and
3 February | Malev ceases operations. world-class travel experiences.
14 February | Boeing, Lion Air finalize historic order for 10 September | A irports Council International officially
up to 380 737s. launches its APEX in Safety Programme.
April [1]
5 April | Volotea makes its first flight. October
30 April | Delta purchases an oil refinery, 19 October | I ATA announces that the IATA Passenger
becoming first airline to produce its own Service Conference adopts a Resolution
jet fuel. on a Foundation Standard for a New
Distribution Capability (NDC).
June
December
4 June | Scoot’s first aircraft – also known as
11 December | D elta and Virgin Atlantic to form a
Goin’ Scootin’ – departs Singapore
strategic alliance.
Changi Airport’s terminal to Sydney
International Airport.
22 June | LAN and TAM complete their transaction
and create LATAM Airlines Group.
[1] Source: ACI

2013
January August
16 January | Ryanair announces first Non-European 5 August | A irbus’s 8,000th worldwide aircraft de-
Bases - Fez & Marrakech. livered.
February 8 August | I ATA announces that Air Transat has
14 February | American Airlines and US Airways an- become the first airline to renew its
nounce an $11Billion deal to merge, cre- IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA)
ating the world’s largest airline. registration under the Enhanced IOSA
25 February | ICAO adopts Annex 19 on Safety Manage- audit process.
ment.
September
March 16 September | B ombardier’s first flight for C-Series Air-
14 March | Hermes - Air Transport Organisation is craft.
founded.
16 September | C hina begins flight operations at Dao-
cheng Yading Airport, the world’s high-
est civilian airport, at an elevation of
4,411 metres (14,472ft) above
sea level.
18 to 22 March | I ncreased liberalization of air carrier 17 September | B oeing flies First 787-9 Dreamliner.
ownership and control, improved con- October
vergence of the myriad of consumer
4 October | T he International Civil Aviation Organiza-
protection regimes applicable to pas-
tion (ICAO) concludes a landmark 38th
sengers and airlines, enhanced air cargo
liberalization, as well as renewed focus Assembly today receiving endorsements
on minimizing State taxes and charges from its Member States on sector-wide
on air travel and transport are among strategic planning and exceeding many
the key long-term targets agreed to at expectations by agreeing to develop a
ICAO’s Sixth Worldwide Air Transport Con- global market-based measure (MBM) for
ference (ATConf/6), held at ICAO Head- international aviation.
quarters in Montréal.
31 October | T he U.S. Department of Transportation’s
April Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
29 April | Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo makes announces that the FAA has determined
first rocket-powered flight. that airlines can safely expand passen-
30 April | The tallest airport control tower, Tower ger use of Portable Electronic Devices
West at Kuala Lumpur International Air- (PEDs) during all phases of flights, and
port, Malaysia, measuring 133.8 m, is
immediately provides airlines with im-
completed.
plementation guidance.
June
November
14 June | First Airbus A350 XWB successfully com-
pletes flight. 1 November | J etBlue becomes the first U.S. Airline to
implement Personal Electronic Device
Source: Kostas Iatrou
use Gate-to-Gate.
23 November | S ingapore Airlines discontinues Flight
21, the longest regularly-scheduled non-
stop flight in the world.

2014
January July
17 January | Preliminary data released by the In- 9 July | B oeing, Emirates Finalize Order for 150
ternational Civil Aviation Organization 777Xs.
(ICAO) has confirmed that 2013 was the
17 July | A Boeing 777-200 passenger plane,
safest year ever recorded in terms of fa-
operating Malaysia Airlines Flight 17,
talities for scheduled international air
crashes in the Ukraine.
transport operations.
24 July | T he International Civil Aviation Organi-
27 January | Southwest Airlines announces first in-
zation (ICAO) issues a State Letter re-
ternational destinations.
minding applicable authorities of its 191
March signatory States to the Convention on
8 March | Malaysia Airlines confirms that flight International Civil Aviation of the inter-
MH370 lost contact with Subang Air Traf- national provisions specifying State re-
fic Control at 2.40am, today. sponsibilities with respect to the safety
and security of civil aircraft operating in
April
airspace affected by conflict.
16 April | Boeing delivers 8,000th 737.
September
22 April | airberlin iPhone App: World’s First Smart-
25 September | F irst A320neo successfully completes
watch Boarding Pass.
first flight.
May
27 May | Qatar Airways commences full opera-
tions at its new state-of-the-art hub, Ha-
mad International Airport (HIA), at 09:00
local time. The first commercial flight of
Qatar Airways touching down at Hamad
International Airport, marking the com-
mencing of full operations of the nation-
al airline.
Source: Airbus
26 September | E ASA allows electronic devices to re-

main on and connected throughout a
flight.
November
14 November | T he carbon standard for the airport in-
dustry - Airport Carbon Accreditation -
goes global.
Source: Qatar Airways
December
June 3 December | B oeing conducts world’s first flight with
2 June | Successful first flight for Solar Impulse 2. ‘Green Diesel’ as aviation biofuel.

2015
January March
15 January | Qatar Airways inaugurates world’s first 11 March | D r. Fang Liu of China becomes first-ever
A350 XWB route from Doha to Frankfurt. woman appointed Secretary General of
February ICAO.
3 February | Member States of the International Civil 27 March | E ASA, after the Germanwings 4U 9525
Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommend accident, publishes a temporary recom-
the adoption of a new 15-minute aircraft mendation for airlines to ensure that
tracking standard during discussions at least two crew members, including
amongst the over 850 participants to at least one qualified pilot, are in the
the UN aviation body’s 2015 High Level flight crew compartment at all times of a
Safety Conference. They also confirm flight.
their support today for the Organiza-
tion’s comprehensive conflict zone risk April
mitigation work programme, including a 8 April | A merican Airlines receives a single oper-
proposal to develop a prototype online ating certificate from the Federal Avia-
resource for global conflict zone risk as- tion Administration (FAA) for American
sessments. and US Airways, marking a major mile-
27 February | Bombardier CS300 aircraft successfully stone in the integration of the two air-
completes maiden flight. lines.
November
11 November | M
RJ completes first flight.
Source: MRJ
30 November | e asyJet becomes first airline in the

world to introduce the real time Flightra-
dar24 tracking feature to its mobile app.
December
12 December | A historic agreement to combat climate
change and unleash actions and invest-
ment towards a low carbon, resilient and
sustainable future is agreed by 195 na-
tions in Paris.
27 December | A TL becomes first airport ever to serve
Source: Bombardier 100 million passengers in a single year.

2016
January May
7 January | Ryanair becomes the first airline to carry 23 May | F irst Embraer E190-E2 Jet completes
over 100m international customers in maiden flight.
one year.
20 January | Airlines for Europe (A4E), Europe’s new
airline association, is officially launched.
20 January | The Lufthansa Group, Airbus’s largest
airline customer and operator, marks a
major step in aviation history today by
taking delivery of the first A320neo. Source: Embraer
29 January | First flight Boeing 737 MAX 8. 25 May | F edEx acquires TNT Express.
February July
9 February | A321neo takes to the sky for the first 17 July | E mirates introduces the world’s first in-
time. teractive amenity kit in Economy Class.
16 February | U.S. Transportation Secretary and Cu- 26 July | S olar Impulse 2 completes a round-the-
ban Minister of Transportation sign an world tour by landing back in Abu Dha-
arrangement that provides for the re- bi after a total of 23 days of flight and
establishment of scheduled air services 43,041 km travelled in a 17-leg journey.
between the United States and Cuba.
22 February | The 36-State ICAO Governing Council
adopts a new aviation safety measure
which prohibits, on an interim basis, all
shipments of lithium-ion batteries as
cargo on passenger aircraft.
March Source: Solar Impulse
6 March | Commemorating International Women’s

August
Day, National Carrier Air India makes his- 31 August | U .S. Transportation Secretary arrives in
tory flying the world’s longest all-wom- Cuba on first scheduled flight in over 50
en operated and supported flight on the years. JetBlue makes history when it
nonstop Delhi-San Francisco route. Close touches down in Santa Clara, Cuba, be-
to17 hrs and travelling a distance of about coming the first U.S. airline to restart
14500 km, the flight AI 173 departs from commercial flights between the two
Delhi on March 6th at 0235 hrs and lands countries.
in San Francisco at 0621 hrs. October
15 March | On behalf of the aviation industry, IATA 6 October | G overnment, industry and civil society
signs a declaration aimed at reducing representatives agree on a new global
the illegal trafficking of wildlife and un- market-based measure (GMBM) to con-
derlining the aviation industry’s commit- trol CO2 emissions from international
ment to sustainability. aviation.
April 14 October | A irbus celebrates the delivery of its

10,000th aircraft.
4 April | Boeing and Ryanair mark a milestone
with the delivery of the airline’s 400th November
Next-Generation 737-800. 24 November | 1 st flight of Airbus A350-1000.

2017
March October
6 March | The 36-State ICAO Council adopts a new 4 October | Y oungest woman, Shaesta Waiz (30), in
aircraft CO2 emissions standard which history completes solo round-the-world
will reduce the impact of aviation green- flight as part of ‘Dreams Soar’ campaign
house gas emissions on the global cli- for girls and STEM.
mate. 16 October | A irbus and Bombardier Announce C
29 March | Embraer flies the E195 E2. Series Partnership.
31 March | The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner take to
the skies for the first time.
31 March | The Airbus A319neo performs its first
flight.
April
14 April | The Boeing 737 MAX 9 completes its first
flight. Source: Airbus
May 19 October | F irst Airbus A330neo successfully com-

5 May | COMAC C919 completes successful maid- pletes maiden flight. [1]
en flight. November
15 May | International Civil Aviation Organization 2 November | E mirates welcomes 100th A380 to its
(ICAO) announces that it will begin es- fleet.
tablishing low-altitude traffic manage- December
ment guidance for domestic unmanned
13 December | T he United States and the European
aircraft systems (UAS).
Union agree to expand cooperation
28 May | MC-21-300 commercial airliner com- in the areas of aviation safety and air
pletes maiden flight. traffic management modernization.
[1] Source: Airbus
THE HISTORY
THE HISTORY
OF COMMERCIAL AVIATION | 107
OF AIR TRANSPORT
2018
January 16 July | A ir France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Chi-
28 January | The Single African Air Transport Market na Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines
is formally established and launched at form a single joint venture.
the African Union Summit in Addis Aba- 19 July | F irst Airbus BelugaXL becomes airborne
ba, Ethiopia. for its maiden flight.
31 January | First Airbus A321LR successfully com- 25 July | E uropean Commission adopts new rules
pletes maiden flight. on mental fitness of aircrew.
March September
16 March | Boeing 737 MAX 7 completes successful 3 September | A irbus Perlan Mission II glider soars to
first flight. 76,000 feet to break own altitude re-
cord, even surpassing the U-2 recon-
24 March | Qantas’s first Perth to London flight naissance plane.
takes off, marking the start of the only
direct air link between Australia and Eu-
rope.
April
23 April | Ultra Long Range Airbus A350 XWB com-
pletes first flight.
June
18 June | Avinor - Norway’s first electric-powered
flight, takes to the skies.
Source: Airbus
October
12 October | S ingapore Airlines (SIA) launches the
world’s longest commercial flight,
between Singapore and New York.
The first new nonstop flight between
Singapore and New York departs on 11
October 2018 at 2337hrs (SIN time) and
arrived at Newark Liberty International
Source: Avinor Airport a day later, at 0529hrs (US
Eastern time). The flight duration is 17
27 June | The ICAO Council makes important head-
hours 52 minutes.
way on key international standards sup-
porting the UN aviation agency’s Carbon 29 October | L ion Air flight JT610, a Boeing 737 MAX
Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for In- 8, crashes into the sea shortly after
ternational Aviation, or ‘CORSIA’. take-off from Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport, Indonesia.
July
1 July | Airbus’s majority stake in C Series part- November
nership with Bombardier and Investisse- 6 November | F irst Airbus A330-800 successfully com-
ment Québec comes into effect. pletes maiden flight.

2019
January 26 June | E urope’s airport industry commits to net
23 January | Boeing successfully completes the first zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
flight of its autonomous passenger air September
vehicle. 11 September | E U aviation stakeholders sign a joint
February declaration committing to a set of con-
5 February | The world’s first fully automated aero- crete actions to finally and fully imple-
bridge launches at Wellington Airport. ment the Single European Sky (SES).
14 February | Airbus announces that it will cease deliv- 25 September | B eijing Daxing International Airport
eries of the A380 in 2021. opens.
March October
4 March | The European Commission and the State 4 October | 4 0th ICAO Assembly endorses key ac-
of Qatar initial an aviation agreement, tion items for global aviation’s Security
the first such agreement between the and Facilitation strategic objectives. The
EU and a partner from the Gulf region. Assembly calls for long-term aviation
emissions targets, CORSIA support, and a
10 March | An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 new CAEP supersonics study, among key
crashes after take-off from Addis Ababa. environmental protections, and drives
13 March | The FAA orders the temporary grounding progress towards key economic devel-
of the Boeing 737 MAX. opment priorities for air transport.
April 7 October | K LM, the world’s oldest airline still oper-
6 April | New Istanbul Airport becomes fully op- ating under its original name, marks its
erational. 100th anniversary.
13 April | Dominica becomes ICAO’s 193rd Member 10 October | I nternational Airlines Group (IAG) is the
State. first airline group worldwide to commit
to achieving net zero carbon emissions
13 April | Stratolaunch completes historic first by 2050.
flight of aircraft.
20 October | T he first nonstop commercial airline
23 April | FAA awards the first air carrier certifica- flight from New York to Sydney lands af-
tion to a drone delivery company, Wing ter 19 hours 16 minutes in the air.
Aviation.
29 October | I ndiGo places a firm order for 300 Airbus
May A320neo family aircraft.
8 May | The first-ever commercial flight (Qantas
November
flying from Sydney to Adelaide) to pro-
duce no landfill waste takes to the skies. 15 November | Q antas centenary celebrations take off
as direct London-Sydney research flight
20 May | Airbus celebrates delivery of its
lands. Project Sunrise research flight, di-
12,000th aircraft – an A220-100 to Delta
rect from London to Sydney, lands after
Air Lines.
19 hours and 19 minutes.
June December
3 June | Bombardier concludes sale of the Q Se- 5 December | N
orwegian becomes first airline to sign
ries Aircraft program to Longview. UN climate action initiative.
17 June | Airbus launches longest range single- 11 December | A doption by the European Commission
aisle airliner: the A321XLR. of the European Green Deal.
21 June | H55 Zero Emission electric airplane com- 12 December | F irst Embraer E175-E2 Jet completes
pletes its first flight. maiden flight.

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IFALPA (https://www.ifalpa.org/about-us/)
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IFATCA (https://www.ifatca.org)
com/about/company/history.htm)
Ilyushin (http://www.ilyushin.org/en/about/history/backgroung/)
The National Museum of Australia (https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/
IndiGo (https://www.goindigo.in/press-releases.html)
Infraero (https://www4.infraero.gov.br/aeroportos/aeroporto-do-rio-de- resources/black-box-invented)
janeiro-santos-dumont/sobre-o-aeroporto/historico/) The Port Authority of NY & NJ (https://www.panynj.gov/port-authority/en/
Intercontinental (https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/content/us/en/ about/History/aviation-history-history-about.html)
support/about-intercontinental) The World’s Greatest Aircraft (2001) Christopher Chant & Michael, Isle of
IranAir (http://www.iranair.com/Portal/Home/Default. Anglesey: Taylor Regency House Publishing Ltd
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Kenya Airports Authority (https://www.kaa.go.ke/corporate/about-us/our- Turkish Airlines (https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-gr/press-room/about-us/
history/) our-story/)
Kenya Airways (https://corporate.kenya-airways.com/en/) Tupolev (http://www.tupolev.ru)
KLM (https://www.klm.com/travel/nl_en/corporate/history.htm) TWA (http://web.archive.org/web/19990220172209/http://www2.twa.com/
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LATAM (http://www.latamairlinesgroup.net/company-history) UK CAA (https://www.caa.co.uk)
Lufthansa (http://lufthansagroup.com/media) United Airlines (http://web.archive.org/web/20070503224806/http://www.
Lufthansa Lufthansa Magazin (04/2005), Die Lufthansa Story, 59-66 united.com/page/middlepage/0,6823,2286,00.html)
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history.html) detail?aircraft=farman-f60-goliath&id=5)
London City Airport Consultative Committee (https://web.archive.org/ UPS (https://pressroom.ups.com/pressroom/ContentDetailsViewer.page?Conce
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us.html) Virgin Australia (http://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/about-us/company-
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klia-celebrates-20-years-service-excellence-and-joyful-memories-aspiring- Western Airlines (http://www.deltamuseum.org/exhibits/delta-history/family-
global) tree/western-airlines)
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BP/ENG/I_PLANESPOTHISTORY_ENG/2002-1117-1909-39AYEO.asp) Winnipeg Richardson International Airport (https://www.waa.ca/waa/about/
Kenneth M Molson (1978). “The Felixstowe F5L”. Cross & Cockage Great Britain history)
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Wizz Air (https://wizzair.com/en-gb/information-and-services/about-us/
marks-birth-of-air-traffic-control/)
company-information)
Norwegian (https://www.norwegian.com/uk/about/our-story/year-by-year/)
Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company www.wright-brothers.org
oneworld (https://www.oneworld.com)
Philippine Airlines (https://www.philippineairlines.com/AboutUs/ www.aerofiles.com
HistoryAndMilestone) www.airlinehistory.co.uk
Qantas (https://www.qantas.com/au/en/about-us/news-room.html) www.airporthistory.org
Royal Air Force Museum (http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of- www.airships.net
aviation-timeline.aspx) www.braniffpages.com
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today-our-history/) http://www.ladyicarus.com
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Saba (http://www.sabagovernment.com/department_airport.html) www.tu144sst.com/fleet/pictures/cccp-68001c.jpg
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com/snpress/snpress.php?action=details&id=616475991) www.uahf.org/images/ua_flight_attendants/80_Image_25.jpg)
Sabena (https://web.archive.org/web/20170324172926/http://www.sabena. www.women-in-aviation.com
com/EN/Historique_FR.htm) Websites are current as of 1 March 2020

About the
Author
D r Kostas Iatrou was appointed in 2018 as the
Director General of Hermes – Air Transport
Organisation.
Kostas holds a PhD in Air Transport Management from
Cranfield University, is the author of the book “100
Years of Commercial Aviation” and co-author of the
book “Airline Choices for the Future”.
He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Air Transport
Studies.
Kostas is the owner of ATN – Air Transport News,
President of the Air Transport Awards and founder and
Honorary Member of the Hellenic Aviation Society.
In 2016 Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) Mediterranean
awarded to ATN and to his owner, Dr Kostas Iatrou,
the International Press Award for his contribution to
European Aviation.
In 2009 he served as Deputy Mayor of Ekali, Greece.
He is married with Evgenia Votanopoulou and they
have two children, George and Yiannis.

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The History of

THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 3

4 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

International and domestic (scheduled services)

THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 5

December August | C ollege Park Airport (KCGS), in the

1909 Morse radio message “Another chapter

6 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

12 February | S ikorsky Ilya Mourometz takes off with

THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 7

March | T he First Conference of Pan-American

8 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

Courtesy “Airports in the first 100 years of flight” (2003)

THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 9

10 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

March | Handley Page Transport in Cricklewood

THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 11

28 February | D ue to subsidised European competi-

Source: Les Ailes newspaper

12 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 13

[1] Courtesy “Airports in the first 100 years of flight” (2003)

14 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

Source: Dana Bell, 2008,

THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 15

16 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 17

February 15 June | U .S. businessman Van Lear Black char-

18 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

THE HISTORY OF Air TranspoRT | 19

Source: German Federal Archives - Georg Pahl

20 | THE HISTORY OF Air Transport

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 21

22 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

[1] Source: Kostas Iatrou

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT| 23

24 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 25

26 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 27

28 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 29

30 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 31

32 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 33

34 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 35

36 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 37

38 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

4 February | C AA grant authorization for commercial

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 39

► Late 1950s: the Instrument Landing System

1950 service is flown by BEA from Northolt

40 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

Japan Airlines flight attendants in front of Martin 2-0-2 Mokusei

THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT | 41

42 | THE HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT

December August | C ollege Park Airport (KCGS), in the

12 February | S ikorsky Ilya Mourometz takes off with

March | T he First Conference of Pan-American

March | Handley Page Transport in Cricklewood

28 February | D ue to subsidised European competi-

February 15 June | U .S. businessman Van Lear Black char-

4 February | C AA grant authorization for commercial

► Late 1950s: the Instrument Landing System

5 May | T he Paris Peace Treaties restore full air- 25 August |H

31 March | T he Air Traffic Control Association

25 February | Transall C-160 first flight.

13 January | D allas-Fort Worth Airport officially

28 October | P an American is one of first airlines to

6 May | U nited launches its Mileage Plus fre-

May | First ECAC-US Memorandum of

February | The decision to use side-stick

ICAO Assembly approves unanimously 26 October | F AA publishes two rules to increase

28 December | L et L-610 first flight.

September | KLM and Northwest Airlines start

29 February | A s part of a continuing “open skies” ini-