Connecting Skies • Bridging Continents
Embraer and Jazz Aviation sign an inventory support agreement for 25 E175 aircraft, introducing the ECIP programme in Canada to improve efficiency and reduce downtime.
Tecnam’s P2008JC NG receives EASA CS-23 certification and enters service, introducing a next-generation training aircraft focused on safety, efficiency, and modern avionics. Next-generation trainer delivered
Bell Textron secures three European orders for VIP-configured Bell 429 helicopters, highlighting continued demand in the corporate aviation sector. Corporate demand strengthens light twin presence across UK and Baltic markets Bell Textron has confirmed three new orders for corporate-configured Bell 429 helicopters from VIP operators in
Nippon Cargo Airlines joins BARIG’s air cargo segment, strengthening industry collaboration and highlighting ongoing operational challenges in Germany’s cargo sector. Japan’s only dedicated cargo airline strengthens German industry association network Frankfurt am Main, 23 April 2026 — Board of Airline Representatives in Germany (BARIG) has confirmed
Pratt & Whitney invests $100 million in its Poland facility to expand engine production capacity, supporting growing demand across commercial and military aviation. Facility upgrade in Rzeszów to increase capacity for commercial and military programmes Pratt & Whitney, a business of RTX, has announced a $100
AAR and Woodward sign a multi-year agreement to distribute critical engine components, improving parts availability for commercial aviation operations. Partnership expands access to high-demand consumables for commercial aviation engines AAR CORP. has signed a multi-year commercial distribution agreement with Woodward to supply high-demand engine consumable parts
Vic Zazeraj’s address and spirited toasts mark a memorable RAF anniversary gathering in Johannesburg. The Royal Air Force Officers’ Club (RAFOC) Annual Dining-In Luncheon, held
SITA and partners launch a digital identity pilot for seafarers, replacing paper certification with secure electronic verification systems. SITA, in collaboration with Columbia Shipmanagement and
Pretoria’s Wonderboom National Airport roared back to life this past weekend with an airshow that reminded South Africans – and indeed the international aviation community
2009 – Senegalese Air Sénégal International suspends all operations.
2002 – A Belgian Air Force F-16B collides with an Ikarus PH-3G8 in Sellingen. The pilots of the F-16 and the Ikarus are killed. The pilot in the backseat of the F-16 ejects and survives.
2001 – The unmanned aircraft Global Hawk flies automatically from Edwards Air Force Base in the US to Australia non-stop and unrefuelled. This is the longest point-to-point flight ever undertaken by an unmanned aircraft, the first pilotless aircraft to cross the Pacific Ocean, and took 23 hours and 23 min.
1996 – The modified McDonnell Douglas F-15 S/TMD becomes the first aircraft to fly supersonic using round, pitch-and-yaw thrust-vectoring nozzles.
1993 – (24-25) In Operation Ashwamedh, Indian Army commandos storm a hijacked Indian Airlines Boeing 737 with 141 people on board at Amritsar, India. They kill the lone hijacker and free everyone else on board unharmed.
1990 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-31 at 12:33:51 UTC. Mission highlights: Hubble Space Telescope deployment.
1985 – LOT Polish Airlines inaugurates flights to JFK International Airport in New York.
1980 – Lockheed U-2R, 68-10333, Article 055, fifth airframe of the first R-model order, first flown 8 May 1968, registered N812X, delivered to the CIA on 28 May 1968. To 100th SRW, mid-1974, to 9th SRW, 1976. Damaged at Akrotiri, Cyprus, this date. Repaired.
1972 – First flight of the Partenavia Alpha
1971 – Soyuz 10 spacecraft docks with the world’s first space station, Salyut 1. The cosmonauts on board are forced to return to earth without entering the station, however, due to a faulty hatch.
1970 – China launches its first space satellite, Dong Fang Hong I using a Long March I rocket. The satellite’s weight exceeds that of the first four satellites launched by Russia, the United States, France and Japan combined.
1969 – First flight of the Anderson Kingfisher
1957 – Wes Lemmatta establishes Columbia Helicopters in Portland, Oregon. Columbia Helicopters is now the largest heavy-lift helicopter company in the world operating Boeing Vertol 107-II and Boeing 234 Chinook tandem rotor helicopters.
1956 – Ninth of 13 North American X-10s, GM-52-2, c/n 9, on Navaho X-10 flight number 21, out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, ground control system failure results in missile crashing at sea at Mach 1.25 200 km from the Cape.
1946 – Winged Cargo Inc. opens an unusual freight service in which goods are carried in a Waco CG-4 A glider towed by a DC-3.
1946 – First flight of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9, the Soviet Union’s first jet
1946 – First flight of the Yakovlev Yak-15 (three hours after the I-300)
1944 – The first B-29 Superfortress arrives in China, beginning the build-up by the U. S. Army Air Forces’ Twentieth Air Force for a strategic bombing offensive against Japan.
1942 – First flight of the Miles Martinet prototype LR241
1933 – First flight of the Grumman JF Duck
1929 – 24-26 – Sqn Ldr A. G. Jones-Wiliams and Flt Lt N. H. Jenkins make the first non-stop flight from England to India using a Fairey Long-Range Monoplane
1924 – French Captain Georges Pelletier d’Oisy and Adjutant Lucien Besin depart Paris eastbound in a Breguet 19.A.2, beginning an attempt to fly around the world. They will be forced to end their attempt in May in Shanghai.
1913 – O. Gilbert flies 825 km from Villacoublay to Vitoria (8 hours and 23 min).
1912 – Billy Stark returned to British Columbia with his pilot’s license and a new Curtis “Flyer. ” Stark took Daily Province sports editor Jim Hewitt up for a flight. Hewitt, who was British Columbia’s first air passenger, related his impression of the flight to his readers. Later that same day, Olive Stark became the first woman airplane passenger in Canada. She sat beside her husband on the lower wing of his Curtis, bundled up against the cold, looking both proud and apprehensive.
