History of Air Transport

Key Dates

Key dates in air transport, from the pioneers to the 21st century...

The Early Days

1890: Frenchman Clément Ader is the first to take off in an aeroplane.

1909: Louis Blériot crosses the English Channel.

1919: the first airlines are founded.

1924: the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe with stopovers is completed in... five and a half months.

1927: Charles Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic in 33 hours.

1930: first air hostesses on commercial flights.

1933: Air France is established as the national carrier.

The Post-War Era

1947: for the first time, an aircraft breaks the sound barrier.

1952: the first jet airliners (the De Havilland Comet) are introduced by commercial airlines.

1960s/1970s: the first charter flights arrive in France (Nouvelles Frontières, Le Point de Mulhouse, etc.), competing with scheduled airlines. At the time, these could only be aircraft chartered by pre-formed groups, with sales to individuals prohibited. Often, they were also legally required to depart from neighbouring countries (Belgium, Switzerland).

1969: first flights of the Concorde (though the first commercial routes open in 1976) and the Boeing 747.

1974: to cope with increasing air traffic, a new airport is inaugurated in June in Paris after 10 years of construction. Named "Charles de Gaulle," it is considered the most modern in Europe.

1978: the deregulation of air traffic begins in the United States.

Modern Times

1980s: charter flights expand in response to growing public demand for travel. Gradually, many scheduled airlines also begin offering negotiated fares accessible to all.

1990s: faced with increasing competition and deregulation, alliances and takeovers lead to the creation of airline hubs. With British Airways, Lufthansa, and Air France, Europe then has three mega-carriers, each transporting over 30 million passengers per year. Lufthansa and its partners alone control 19% of the global passenger traffic.

1 January 1993: the effective start of European deregulation. Airlines from EEC countries are permitted to operate routes between any member states. This possibility is extended in 1995 to domestic networks, provided the routes are extensions of or to the airline’s home country.

1995: the end of the monopoly on the French domestic network; Air Inter is now competing with private airlines like AOM and Air Liberté. In January, a fierce (and self-destructive) battle between Air Liberté and Air Inter on the Paris-Toulouse route temporarily makes it one of the cheapest routes per kilometre in the world.

1996: air traffic continues to grow worldwide. For scheduled airlines alone, there are 1.3 billion passengers, including 404 million on international flights. There are also 103 million intra-EU passengers in 1996, representing an increase of over a third in five years. In January, Alitalia becomes the first foreign airline to offer domestic flights in France, followed a few months later by Lufthansa. By the end of 1996, following various takeovers, British Airways holds 20% of the French domestic market. Four years later, British Airways sells its French subsidiary to Swissair, which merges it with AOM and Air Littoral to create France’s second-largest airline. However, a few months later, the group goes bankrupt, and AOM-Air Liberté, rebranded as Air Lib, leaves the struggling Swissair group.

1997: on 1 April, the European skies are fully opened to competition from airlines of EU member states. Air France and Air Inter merge under a single name, and a decision is made for partial (rather than full, as originally planned) privatisation of the group.

1999: the Air France Group is privatised.

1999/2000: new runways open at Roissy (saturated), increasing its capacity by nearly 75%. This effectively opens the skies to and from Paris.

The 21st Century

2000: the rapid growth of the Internet and online ticket sales indirectly forces airlines to form even more alliances. The crash and end of Concorde’s commercial operations.

2000/2001: with the launch of the Airbus A-380, the aircraft of the 21st century is born, both technologically and in terms of passenger amenities. To compete with Airbus, Boeing considers a new commercial aircraft that would fly at near-supersonic speeds, cutting long-haul flight times by 15%.

2001: the 11 September attacks in the United States trigger a crisis in the tourism industry, pushing many already struggling airlines to the brink of bankruptcy. Concorde flights resume in November after a year-long hiatus, though the aircraft makes its final flight two years later.

2002: if the 1970s were the era of charter flights, the 2000s are the era of "low-cost" airlines. This type of carrier expands, with many new routes, particularly in 2002 to and from France with the airline Buzz, later acquired by Ryanair.

2003: the end of Air Lib and the definitive retirement of Air France’s and British Airways’ Concorde fleet. In September, the Air France-KLM merger creates the world’s second-largest airline alliance and Europe’s largest. At the same time, plans for a third Paris airport (scheduled for 2015) are abandoned in favour of Amsterdam Schiphol.

2005: the first flights of the A-380, the world’s largest commercial aircraft, with commercial operations beginning in 2007.

2008/2010: a temporary spike in oil prices and the economic crisis reduce activity for many airlines, some of which disappear.

2010: following the effective absorption of Northwest, Delta Airlines becomes the world’s largest airline before being overtaken four years later by American Airlines after its merger with US Airways.

2013: for the first time in history, air transport exceeds 3 billion passengers carried (3.129) in a single year.

2017: with 10 accidents and 44 fatalities, 2017 is the safest year on record for commercial air transport.