BAE SYSTEMS has a proud heritage that dates back to the early days of manned flight and wireless communications. Some of the principal events that have shaped today's BAE SYSTEMS Regional Aircraft are set out below.
1940s
- 5 July 1942 - First flight of Avro York
- 22 June 1945 - First flight of Vickers Viking
- 25 September 1945 - First flight of DH Dove
- 10 July 1947 - First flight of Airspeed (DH) Ambassador
- 16 July 1948 - First flight of Vickers Viscount
- 27 July 1949 - First flight of DH Comet 1
- 4 September 1949 - First flight of Bristol Brabazon
1950s
- 10 May 1950 - First flight of DH Heron
- 2 May 1952 - First scheduled commercial jet airliner service, by DH Comet 1 from London to Johannesburg
- 16 August 1952 - First flight of Bristol Britannia
- 24 June 1955 - First flight of Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer
- 27 April 1958 - First flight of DH Comet 4
- 20 January 1959 - First flight of Vickers Vanguard
1960s
- 1960 - British Aircraft Corporation formed from merger of Bristol, English Electric, Hunting and Vickers. Armstrong Whitworth, Avro and Hawker, already in Hawker Siddeley, were joined by Blackburn, De Havilland and Folland.
- 24 June 1960 - First flight of Avro 748
- 1 November 1961 - First flight of 748 licence-built by Hindustan Aeronautics
- 9 January 1962 - First flight of DH Trident 1
- 29 June 1962 - First flight of Vickers VC10
- 13 August 1962 - First flight of DH125
- 20 August 1963 - First flight of BAC One-Eleven
- 21 December 1963 - First flight of HS748MF
- 9 July 1965 - First flight of the first production HS780 Andover C1
- 23 May 1967 - First flight of HS Nimrod
- 18 August 1967 - First flight of HP Jetstream
- 2 March 1969 - First flight of BAC / Sud Aviation Concorde
- 19 May 1969 - First flight of Beagle Bulldog
1970s
- 1970 - Beagle Aircraft closed. Pup and Bulldog programmes subsequently taken over by Scottish Aviation.
- 27 February 1970 - Handley Page went into final receivership. HP Jetstream programme subsequently taken over by Scottish Aviation.
- December 1970 - Airbus Industrie consortium created.
- 31 December 1971 - First flight of HS748 Series 2A
- October 1972 - First flight of the first Airbus, an A300.
- April 1977 - British Aerospace (BAe) formed as a nationalised corporation by the merger of British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation.
1980s
- 28 March 1980 - First flight of BAe Jetstream 31 prototype, converted from HP Jetstream.
- January 1981 - British Aerospace formed as a public limited company (PLC), acquiring the assets and business of the nationalised corporation.
- February 1981 - UK Government sold 51.57% of its shares to public.
- 20 May 1981 - BAe146 rolled out at Hatfield
- 3 September 1981 - First flight of BAe146-100
- 25 January 1982 - First production BAe Jetstream 31 rolled-out.
- 18 March 1982 - First flight of production BAe Jetstream 31.
- 1 August 1982 - First flight of BAe146-200 (E2008)
- 23 May 1983 - First delivery of a BAe146-100 (E1006 to Dan-Air)
- 27 May 1983 - BAe146 entry-into-service. E1006 flown London Gatwick to Berne by Dan-Air.
- 16 June 1983 - First delivery of a BAe146-200 (E2012 to Air Wisconsin)
- May 1985 - UK Government sold its remaining BAe shares but kept special £1 share to ensure Company continues under UK control.
- 6 August 1986 - First flight of BAe ATP
- 21 August 1986 - First flight of BAe146-200QT
- 1 May 1987 - BAe146-300 rolled out
- 20 April 1988 - First delivery of an ATP (2004 to British Midland)
- 16 May 1988 - First flight of the first BAe146 (E2106) assembled at Woodford (all previous 146s were built at Hatfield)
- 2 August 1988 - First flight of BAe146-100STA (E1002) after conversion, from Birmingham, Alabama
- 16 December 1988 - First delivery of a BAe146-300 (E3120 to Air Wisconsin)
- 20 April 1989 - First flight of BAe146 with EFIS flight deck
- 29 May 1989 - First flight of BAe146-200QC, E2119 after conversion from Dothan, Alabama
1990s
- 27 March 1991 - Roll-out of BAe Jetstream 41
- 25 September 1991 - First flight of BAe Jetstream 41
- February 1992 - Three new wholly-owned companies, formed to replace British Aerospace (Commercial Aircraft) Ltd; British Aerospace Airbus Limited, British Aerospace Regional Aircraft Limited and British Aerospace Corporate Jets Limited.
- 23 March 1992 - First flight of Avro RJ85
- May 1992 - British Aerospace Corporate Jets Limited renamed Corporate Jets Limited.
- 13 May 1992 - First flight of Avro RJ100
- 23 July 1992 - First flight of Avro RJ70
- September 1992 - British Aerospace and the Taiwan Aerospace Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a 50/50 joint venture to produce Avro RJ Regional Jets (final contract never signed).
- October 1992 - Assembly of the ATP aircraft transferred to Prestwick, Scotland and became part of the Jetstream family of regional turboprop aircraft. Jetstream Aircraft Limited formed.
- January 1993 - First delivery of a Jetstream 41 (41005 to Loganair)
- 23 April 1993 - First delivery of an Avro RJ85 (E2226 to Crossair)
- June 1993 - Sale agreed of Corporate Jets Ltd, and Arkansas Aerospace Inc to Raytheon Company.
- July 1993 - Legal structure changed with the formation of British Aerospace (Operations) Ltd, British Aerospace (Dynamics) Ltd and Jetstream Holdings Ltd.
- 22 July 1993 - First delivery of an Avro RJ100 (E3232 to THY)
- 11 September 1993 - First delivery of an Avro RJ70 (E1223 to Business Express)
- 10 May 1994 - First flight of Jetstream 61 (development of ATP, later cancelled)
- January 1995 - Proposed regional aircraft joint venture with Aerospatiale and Alenia is announced.
- 2 January 1996 - The regional aircraft joint venture, Aero International (Regional), begins operations. British Aerospace forms new Asset Management Division incorporating AMO and JSX.
- June 1996 - AMO and JSX renamed Asset Management-Jets (AMJ) and Asset Management-Turboprops (AMT) respectively, operating organisations of British Aerospace Asset Management.
- January 1997 - Partners of Airbus Industrie sign an MoU to restructure Airbus Industrie into a limited liability company, a single corporate entity (SCE).
- May 1997 - British Aerospace announces it is to end production of Jetstream 41 turboprop aircraft.
- April 1998 - Aero International (Regional) partners British Aerospace, Aerospatiale and Alenia agree on company dissolution.
- 1 July 1998 - Sales, marketing and customer support of the Avro RJ regional jet family transferred to British Aerospace Regional Aircraft, following the dissolution of AI(R).
- December 1998 - British Aerospace delivers its last turboprop airliners, a Jetstream 41 to the Hong Kong Government Flying Service and an ATP to British World.
- November 1999 - British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merged. The company is called BAE SYSTEMS.
2000s
- 12 July 2000 - BAE SYSTEMS Regional Aircraft launches aircraft Trading and Services business.
- 30 April 2001 - First flight of Avro RJX-85
- 10 September 2001 - BAE SYSTEMS announces the appointment of RF Saywell Ltd as the sole distributor of spares for the HS748 aircraft. BAE SYSTEMS continues to provide full technical support and liaison services to operators of the fleet.
- 23 September 2001 - First flight of Avro RJX-100.
- 27 November 2001 - Avro RJX programme closed.
- 26 April 2002 - BAE SYSTEMS Regional Aircraft announces it is to re-launch as a service business following the cessation of regional aircraft manufacturing by the company.
- 22 May 2002 - BAE SYSTEMS Regional Aircraft and Mesaba Airlines open a new Regional Aircraft Services facility in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- 31 May 2002 - BAE SYSTEMS and De Havilland Support Ltd (DHSL) announce Heads of Agreement to transfer technical responsibility for UK-based Bulldog aircraft to DHSL.
- 10 July 2002 - First flight of ATP Freighter from Lidkug.
- 16 Sept 2002 - Technical responsibility for all Bulldog aircraft transferred to de Havilland Support Ltd (DHSL).
- 17 June 2003 - Regional Aircraft and Romaero agree ATP Large Feight Door programme.
- 23 June 2004 - First ATPF rolled out at Romaero and delivered to West Air Sweden several days later.
