Aviation began in the 18th century with the development of thehot air balloon, an apparatus capable of atmospheric displacement throughbuoyancy. Clément Ader built the "Ader Éole" in France and made an uncontrolled, powered hop in 1890. This was the first powered aircraft, although it did not achieve controlled flight. Some of the most significant advancements in aviation technology came with the controlled gliding flying ofOtto Lilienthal in 1896. A major leap followed with the construction of theWright Flyer, the first poweredairplane by theWright brothers in the early 1900s.
Since that time, aviation has been technologically revolutionized by the introduction of the jet engine which enabled aviation to become a major form of transport throughout the world. In 2024, there were 9.5 billion passengers worldwide according to theICAO.[1] As of 2018, estimates suggest that 11% of the world's population traveled by air, with up to 4% taking international flights.[2]
The wordaviation was coined by the French writer and former naval officer Gabriel La Landelle in 1863.[3] He originally derived the term from the verbavier (an unsuccessfulneologism for "to fly"), itself derived from the Latin wordavis ("bird") and the suffix-ation.[4]
The modern age of aviation began with the first untethered human lighter-than-air flight on November 21, 1783, of ahot air balloon designed by theMontgolfier brothers.[8] The usefulness of balloons was limited because they could only travel downwind. The first steerabledirigible, balloon was flown byJean-Pierre Blanchard in 1784. It was human-powered and, Blanchard completed a successful crossing of the English Channel in one in 1785.
Rigid airships became the first aircraft to transport passengers and cargo over great distances. The best-known aircraft of this type were manufactured by the GermanZeppelin company.
The most successful Zeppelin was theGraf Zeppelin. It flew over one million miles, including an around-the-world flight in August 1929. However, the dominance of the Zeppelins over the airplanes of that period, which had a range of only a few hundred miles, was diminishing as airplane design advanced. The "Golden Age" of the airships ended on May 6, 1937.[according to whom?] That year theHindenburg caught fire, killing 36 people. The cause of theHindenburg accident was initially blamed on the use of hydrogen instead of helium as the lift gas. An internal investigation by the manufacturer found that the coating used in the material covering the frame was highly flammable and allowed static electricity to build up in the airship.[9] Changes to the coating formulation reduced the risk of furtherHindenburg type accidents. Although there have been periodic initiatives to revive their use, airships have seen only niche application since that time.[10] There had been previous airship accidents that were more fatal, for instance, aBritish R38 on 23 August 1921,[11] but theHindenburg was the first to be captured on newsreel.[12]
In 1799, SirGeorge Cayley set forth the concept of the modern airplane as a fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion and control.[14][15]
Otto Lilienthal was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights withgliders,[16] therefore making the idea of "heavier than air" a reality. Newspapers and magazines published photographs of Lilienthal gliding, favorably influencing public and scientific opinion about the possibility of flying machines becoming practical.Lilienthal's work led him to develop the concept of the modern wing.[17][18] His flight attempts inBerlin in 1891 are seen as the beginning of human flight[19] and theLilienthalNormalsegelapparat is considered to be the first airplane in series production, making theMaschinenfabrik Otto Lilienthal inBerlin the first air plane production company in the world.[20]Lilienthal is often referred to as either the "father of aviation"[21][22][23] or "father of flight".[24]
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw dirigible developments, such asHenri Giffard's included machine-powered propulsionGiffard dirigible in 1852,David Schwarz' rigid frame dirigible in 1896 and (Alberto Santos-Dumont's improvements to speed and maneuverability in 1901.
There aremany competing claims for the earliest powered, heavier-than-air flight. The first recorded powered flight was carried out byClément Ader on October 9, 1890, in his bat-winged, fully self-propelledfixed-wing aircraft, theAder Éole. It was reportedly the first manned, powered, heavier-than-air flight of a significant distance of 50 meters (160 ft), but insignificant altitude from level ground.[25][26][27] Seven years later, on October 14, 1897, Ader'sAvion III was tested without success in front of two officials from the French War ministry. The report on the trials was not publicized until 1910, as they had been a military secret. In November 1906, Ader said that he made a successful flight on October 14, 1897 and achieved an uninterrupted flight of around 300 meters (980 feet). Although widely believed at the time, these claims were later discredited.[28][29]
TheWright brothers made thefirst successful powered, controlled and sustained airplane flight on December 17, 1903, a feat made possible by their invention ofthree-axis control[30] and in-house development of an engine with a sufficientpower-to-weight ratio.[31] A decade later, at the start ofWorld War I, heavier-than-air powered aircraft had become practical for reconnaissance, artillery spotting and attacks against ground positions.
Aircraft began to transport people and cargo as designs grew larger and more reliable. The Wright brothers took aloft the first passenger, Charles Furnas, one of their mechanics, on May 14, 1908.[32][33]
During the 1920s and 1930s great progress was made in the field of aviation, including the firsttransatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown in 1919,Charles Lindbergh's solo transatlantic flight in 1927 andCharles Kingsford Smith's transpacific flight the following year. One of the most successful designs of this period was theDouglas DC-3, which became the firstairliner to be profitable carrying passengers exclusively, starting the modern era of passenger airline service. By the beginning of World War II, many towns and cities had built airports, and there were numerous qualified pilots available. During World War II one of the first jet engines was developed by Hans von Ohain and accomplished the world's first jet-powered flight in 1939.[34] The war brought many innovations to aviation, including the firstjet aircraft and the first liquid-fueledrockets.
After World War II, especially inNorth America, there was a boom ingeneral aviation, both private and commercial, as thousands of pilots were released from military service and many inexpensive war-surplus transport and training aircraft became available. Manufacturers such asCessna,Piper, andBeechcraft expanded production to provide light aircraft for the new middle-class market.
By the 1950s, the development of civil jets grew, beginning with thede Havilland Comet, though the first widely used passenger jet was theBoeing 707, because it was much more economical than other aircraft at that time. At the same time,turboprop propulsion started to appear for smaller commuter planes, making it possible to serve small-volume routes in a much wider range of weather conditions.
Since the 1960scomposite material airframes and quieter, more efficient engines have become available, andConcorde providedsupersonic passenger service for more than two decades. However, the most important lasting innovations have taken place in instrumentation and control. The arrival ofsolid-state electronics, theGlobal Positioning System,satellite communications, and increasingly small and powerful computers andLED displays, have dramatically changed the cockpits ofairliners and, increasingly, of smaller aircraft as well. Pilots can navigate much more accurately and view terrain, obstructions, and other nearby aircraft on a map or throughsynthetic vision, even at night or in low visibility.
On June 21, 2004,SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded aircraft to make aspaceflight, opening the possibility of an aviation market capable of leaving the Earth's atmosphere. Meanwhile, the need todecarbonize the aviation industry to face theclimate crisis has increased research into aircraft powered by alternative fuels, such asethanol,electricity,hydrogen, andsolar energy, with flying prototypes becoming more common.
Boeing, Airbus, Ilyushin and Tupolev concentrate on wide-body and narrow-body jetairliners, while Bombardier, Embraer and Sukhoi concentrate onregional airliners. Large networks of specialized parts suppliers from around the world support these manufacturers, who sometimes provide only the initial design and final assembly in their own plants. The ChineseACAC consortium has also recently[when?] entered the civil transport market with itsComac ARJ21 regional jet.[35][36]
Until the 1970s, most major airlines wereflag carriers, sponsored by their governments and heavily protected from competition. Since then,open skies agreements have resulted in increased competition and choice for consumers, coupled with falling prices for airlines. The combination of high fuel prices, low fares, high salaries, as well as crises such as theSeptember 11 attacks and theSARS pandemic have driven many older airlines to government-bailouts, bankruptcy or mergers. At the same time,low-cost carriers such asRyanair,Southwest andWestJet have flourished.
Each country regulates aviation differently, but general aviation usually falls under different regulations depending on whether it is private or commercial and on the type of equipment involved.
Many small aircraft manufacturers serve the general aviation market, with a focus on private aviation and flight training.
The most important recent developments[which?][when?] for small aircraft, which form the bulk of the GA fleet, have been the introduction of advancedavionics (includingGPS) that were formerly found only in largeairliners, and the introduction ofcomposite materials to make small aircraft lighter and faster.Ultralight andhomebuilt aircraft have also become increasingly popular for recreational use, since in most countries that allow private aviation, they are much less expensive and less heavily regulated than certified aircraft.
Simpleballoons were used as surveillance aircraft as early as the 18th century. Over the years,military aircraft have been built to meet ever increasing capability requirements. Manufacturers of military aircraft compete for contracts to supply their government's arsenal. Aircraft are selected based on factors like cost, performance and the speed of production.
Aviation safety means the state of an aviation system or organization in which risks associated with aviation activities, related to, or in direct support of the operation of aircraft, are reduced and controlled to an acceptable level. It encompasses the theory, practice, investigation, and categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through regulation, education, and training. It can also be applied in the context of campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.
A maintenance, repair, and overhaul organization (MRO) is a firm that ensures airworthiness or air transport. According to a 2024 article, "maintenance (M) involves inspecting, cleaning, oiling, and changing aircraft parts after a certain number of flight hours. Repair (R) is restoring the original function of parts and components. Overhaul (O) refers to extensive maintenance, the complete refurbishment of the aircraft, and upgrades in avionics, which can take several weeks to complete."[38] Airlines are legally obligated to certify airworthiness, meaning that a civil aviation authority must approve an aircraft suitable for safe flight operations.[39] MRO firms are responsible for this process, thoroughly checking and documenting all components' repairs while tracking mechanical, propulsion, and electronic parts.[40] Aviation regulators oversee maintenance practices in the country of aircraft registration, manufacture, or current location. All aircraft maintenance activities must adhere to international regulations that mandate standards.[41][38]
Anaviation accident is defined by theConvention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, in which a person is fatally or seriously injured, the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure or the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible.[42] An accident in which the damage to the aircraft is such that it must be written off, or in which the plane is destroyed, is called ahull loss accident.[43]
The first fatal aviation accident occurred in aWright Model A aircraft atFort Myer (now part ofJoint Base Myer–Henderson Hall) in Virginia, on September 17, 1908, resulting in injury to the pilot,Orville Wright, and death of the passenger, Signal Corps LieutenantThomas Selfridge. The worst aviation accident in history was theTenerife airport disaster on March 27, 1977, when 583 people died when two Boeing 747 jumbo jets, operated by Pan Am and KLM collided on a runway in Los Rodeos airport, now known as Tenerife North.
Anaviation incident is defined as an occurrence, other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft that affects or could affect the safety of operations.[43]
Air traffic control (ATC) involves communication with aircraft to help maintain separation – that is, they ensure that aircraft are sufficiently far enough apart horizontally or vertically for no risk of collision. Controllers may co-ordinate position reports provided by pilots, or in high traffic areas they may useradar to see aircraft positions.
Becoming anair traffic controller in the United States typically requires an associate or bachelor's degree from the Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative. The FAA also requires extensive training, along with medical examinations and background checks. Some controllers are required to work weekend, night, and holiday shifts.[44]
There are generally four different types of ATC:
Center controllers, who control aircraft en route between airports.
Control towers of an airport. (including tower, ground control, clearance delivery, and other services), which control aircraft within a small distance (typically 10–15 km (6.2–9.3 mi) horizontal, and 1,000 m (3,300 ft) vertical).
Oceanic controllers, who control aircraft overinternational waters between continents, generally without radar service.
Terminal controllers, who control aircraft in a wider area (typically 50–80 km (31–50 mi)) around busy airports.
ATC is especially important for aircraft flying underinstrument flight rules (IFR) when they may be in weather conditions that do not allow the pilots to see other aircraft. However, in very high-traffic areas, especially near major airports, aircraft flying undervisual flight rules (VFR) are also required to follow instructions from ATC.
In addition to separation from other aircraft, ATC may provide weather advisories, terrain separation, navigation assistance, and other services to pilots, depending on their workload.
ATC does not control all flights. The majority of Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flights in the United States and Canada are not required to contact ATC unless they are passing through a busy terminal area or using a major airport, and in many areas, such as northern Canada and low altitude in northern Scotland, air traffic control services are not available, even for IFR flights at lower altitudes.
Like all activities involvingcombustion, operating powered aircraft, from airliners to hot air balloons, releasessoot and other pollutants into the atmosphere.Greenhouse gases such ascarbon dioxide (CO2) are also produced. In addition, there are environmental impacts specific to aviation: for instance:
Aircraft operating at high altitudes near thetropopause, mainly largejet airliners, emit aerosols and leavecontrails, both of which can increasecirrus cloud formation – cloud cover may have increased by up to 0.2% since the birth of aviation.[45] Clouds can have both a cooling and warming effect. They reflect some of the Sun's rays back into space but also block some of the heat radiated by Earth's surface. On average, both thin natural cirrus clouds and contrails have a net warming effect.[46]
Aircraft operating at high altitudes near the tropopause can also release chemicals that interact with greenhouse gases at those altitudes, particularlynitrogen compounds, which interact with ozone, increasing ozone concentrations.[47][48]
Most light piston aircraft burnaviation gasoline (avgas), which containstetraethyllead (TEL). Some lower-compression piston engines can operate on unleaded motorgasoline (mogas), and turbine engines and diesel engines – neither of which require lead – are appearing on some newerlight aircraft.
Another environmental impact of aviation isnoise pollution, mainly caused by aircraft taking off and landing.Sonic booms were a problem with supersonic aircraft such as theConcorde.
Technology trends in Air transportation: patent landscape in air transport.
Air transportation is a mode of travel and commerce, involving the movement of people, goods, and animals through the atmosphere using aircraft such as airplanes and helicopters. It is a major mode for the overall transportation system, because of its speed and the ability to cover long distances quickly, connecting remote regions and major economic hubs. It plays a significant role in global trade and passenger mobility, influencing economic development and international relations.[49] However, its share of CO2 emissions is significant, accounting for 2% of global CO2 emissions in 2023, having grown faster between 2000 and 2019 than rail, road or shipping.[50] Even under the High Ambition scenario, where total emissions are reduced significantly, aviation emissions will still be a major concern.[51]
TheInternational Air Transport Association (IATA) has highlighted the need for ambitious policies in order to achieve significant reductions in aviation emissions, projecting that CO2 emissions from aviation could be lowered by up to 50% by 2050 with the right measures in place.[52] TheInternational Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) also emphasizes the potential of accelerating the transition tosustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) and implementing efficiency technologies for both commercial andcargo aircraft to achieve significant emission reductions.[53] These commitments reflect a concerted effort by global organizations to address theclimate impact of the aviation sector.
Two significant megatrends are observed in terms of air transportinnovation,sustainability and digitalization. A report published byWIPO in 2025 showed a steady increase ofpatents publication in air transportation, the majority of which being related tocommunication andsecurity, followed by sustainablepropulsion.[54]
Sustainable Propulsion technologies are being developed to reduce emissions and improve environmental sustainability. Efficient aircraft turbines are used to improvefuel efficiency, reduce emissions and lower noise levels.Aviation biofuels aim for a reduction in CO2 emissions compared to traditional jet fuel.Battery-based electric and/orhybrid aircraft are being developed for short-haul and regional flights.Hydrogen-powered aircraft are intended forlong-haul flights and heavy-duty applications.[55]
Automation and Circularity technologies are promoting efficient material use, smart production androbotics, and enhanced recycling practices.[55]
Communication and Security technologies are revolutionizing[peacock prose] air transportation by improving operational efficiency, safety and customer experience. They include navigation technologies such as advancedair traffic management (ATM) systems, device-to-device technology,cloud computing, low-latency internet, and cybersecurity.[55] Analysis byMcKinsey & Company has stated that the rise in digital technologies has made aviation systems more vulnerable to cyberattacks, emphasizing the need for robust cybersecurity measures.[56]
The air transportation sector is undergoing a surge inpatenting activity, with annual Air transport-related patent families increasing from under 1,100 in 2000 to over 12,800 in 2023 – a growth of 11%.China, theSouth Korea, andJapan stand out for their high patent volumes and significant growth rates, although they exhibit a relatively low Relative Specialization Index, reflecting a broad approach to innovation at the country-level across various sectors. In contrast,France, theUnited States andCanada demonstrate a high degree of specialization in Air transportation technologies reflecting a concentrated focus on advancing specific innovations in aviation.[57]
Leadingaviation companies such asRTX,General Electric,Safran,Boeing,Rolls-Royce Holdings, andHoneywell International dominate the patent filings. TheAero Engine Corporation of China leads in recent growth with a compound annual growth rate of 81.1%. Generally, Chinese patent owners exhibit strong recent growth in air transport patent, in contrast to the other top patentees.[timeframe?]Mitsubishi Electric in Japan is as the only non-Chinese entity among the fastest-growing patent owners, highlighting its strategic emphasis on Air transportation research and innovation.[peacock prose] The diverse landscape underscores the dynamic interplay of high-volume patenting and strategic specialization across different regions, driven by both established aviation multinationals and emerging players.[57]
^The Sháhnáma of Firdausí. Vol. II. (1906), pp. 103–104, verse 111. Translated by Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner. London. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. Ltd
^"Sir George Carley (British Inventor and Scientist)".Britannica.Archived from the original on March 11, 2009. RetrievedJuly 26, 2009.English pioneer of aerial navigation and aeronautical engineering and designer of the first successful glider to carry a human being aloft.
^El-Sayed, Ahmed F. (2017).Aircraft propulsion and gas turbine engines (2nd ed.). Boca Raton London New York: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.ISBN978-1-4665-9517-0.
^Kingsbury, Kathleen (October 11, 2007)."Eyes on the Skies".Time. Archived fromthe original on October 31, 2010. RetrievedApril 26, 2010.
^[1]Archived October 29, 2020, at theWayback Machine, "In Homeland Security" on the strategic advantage of the SR-71 blackbird. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
^Grewe, V.; D. Brunner; M. Dameris; J. L. Grenfell; R. Hein; D. Shindell; J. Staehelin (July 2001). "Origin and variability of upper tropospheric nitrogen oxides and ozone at northern mid-latitudes".Atmospheric Environment.35 (20):3421–33.Bibcode:2001AtmEn..35.3421G.doi:10.1016/S1352-2310(01)00134-0.hdl:2060/20000060827.
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