2006 in aviation

January
January 5 - Independence Air closed operations after declaring bankruptcy.

January 19 - Jet Airways announces its purchase of Air Sahara, creating the largest domestic airline in India.

February
February 1 - UAL. Corp, United Airlines' parent company emerges from bankruptcy after being in such position since December 9, 2002, the longest such filing in history.

February 11 - Steve Fossett broke the record for absolute longest distance flight without landing by taking off from Kennedy Space Center on 8 February, heading around the world eastbound, and then upon returning to Florida airspace, continued across the Atlantic for a second time to land in Bournemouth, England after a 76 hour 43 minute flight covering 42,469.46 km.

February 16 - Kobe Airport, a controversial offshore airport in Kobe, Japan, opens for airline service.

March
March 14 - Helios Airways was renamed to ajet.

March 16 - New Kitakyushu Airport, a controversial offshore airport in Kitakyūshū, northeastern Kyūshū, Japan, opens for airline service, and Star Flyer, discount airline company of Japan, maiden flight Haneda-Kitakyūshū route.

March 25 - A revolutionary scramjet jet engine Hyshot III designed to fly at seven times the speed of sound is successfully tested at Woomera, South Australia.

March 29 - The Sea Harrier was withdrawn from service.

May
May 1 - Song (airline) turned down all operations to Delta Air Lines.

May 3 - Armavia Flight 967 crashes into the Black Sea shortly before it was due to land at Adler-Sochi International Airport in Russia.

May 6 - The U.S. Air Force retired the last Lockheed Martin C-141 Starlifter The Hanoi Taxi landed for the last time and was received in a formal retirement ceremony at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, located at WPAFB in Riverside, Ohio near Dayton.

May 18 - The world's biggest passenger jet, the Airbus A380, lands at Heathrow Airport for the first time, making its UK debut.

May 23 - The collision of a Greek and a Turkish fighter jet above southeastern Aegean Sea results in the death of the Greek pilot. The accident took place as the two aircraft were involved in a mock fight.

June
June 3 - A Chinese KJ-200 airborne warning and control system aircraft crashes in Anhui province, China. All 40 people onboard were killed.

June 23 - The RAF Retire the Canberra from service after 55 years.

July
July 7 - Antonov An-12B operated as Mango Airlines of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had engine failure after departure from Goma for Kisangani, and crashed into a hill and burned 10 km NW of Sake, DRC on return to Goma, killing all 6 aboard. (Reg RA-11338 was sold to Angola as D2-FRC in May 2000, then 9U-BHN and later 9Q-CVT)

July 8 - Aerospace scientists in Toronto conduct the first confirmed flight of a manned ornithopter operating under its own power.

July 9 - S7 Airlines Flight 778 crashes in Irkutsk, Russia, killing at least 118 people of the 192 on the plane.

July 10 - All 45 passengers aboard PIA Flight 688 die in a crash on takeoff in Multan, Pakistan.

July 21-26 - the 17th FAI World Precision Flying Championship in Troyes, France. Individual winners: 1. Krzysztof Wieczorek (Poland) - 3Xtrim, 2. Janusz Darocha (Poland) - Cessna 152, 3. Krzysztof Skrętowicz (Poland) - 3Xtrim. Team winners: 1. Poland, 2. Czech Republic, 3. France.

July 26-31 - the 15th FAI World Rally Flying Championship in Troyes, France. Individual winners: Wacław Wieczorek / Michał Wieczorek (Poland), Jiří Filip / Michal Filip (Czech Republic), Petr Opat / Tomas Rajdl (Czech Republic). Team winners: 1. Czech Republic, 2. Poland, 3. France.

August
August 10 - A plot to denonate several airliners over the Atlantic Ocean is foiled. Tightened security measures in the UK and USA and flight cancellations which happened afterwards caused severe chaos at several London airports.

August 22 - A Tupolev Tu-154 plane carrying 160 passengers and 10 crew from southern Russia to Saint Petersburg crashes in eastern Ukraine

August 25 - Rollout of first Block 20 RQ-4 Global Hawk at Northrop Grumman's Plant 42 manufacturing facility in Palmdale, California.

August 27 - Comair Flight 5191, carrying 47 passengers and 3 crew members crashes in Kentucky after taking off for Atlanta. One survivor is in critical condition. Cause of crash is unknown.

August 27- Boeing 737-900ER/9GP, is shown, with the first operator being Lion Air.

September
One of five existing Aerocar flying cars is put up for sale for $3.5 million[1]

September 1 – An Iran Air Tours Tu-154 carrying 148 people crashes while attempting to land in Mashad, Iran killing 29 people.

September 6 - Frontier Airlines operated a new airline named Lynx Aviation (United States).

September 29 – Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907, a Boeing 737, collides with an Embraer Legacy business jet and crashes in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Embraer Legacy, with seven on board, lands safely with no reported injuries. All 154 people on board the Boeing 737 perished.

October
October 3 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1476, a Boeing 737, is hijacked over Greece. The plane landed in Brindisi, Italy. None of the 113 people on board were hurt.

October 10 – Atlantic Airways Flight 670, a BAe 146, slides off the runway at Stord, Norway killing four of the 16 people on board.

October 11 – New York Yankees baseball pitcher Cory Lidle's Cirrus SR20 aircraft crashes in New York City, killing Lidle and his flight instructor.

October 25-26 - Oasis Hong Kong Airlines originally began service with initial service to London-Gatwick on the 25th but due to problems with rights flying over Russia, the initial flight OHK 700/O8 700 was delayed to the 26th.

October 31 - ajet, formerly Helios Airways, ceased operations.

November
November 1 - Emirates Airline cancels its order for 10 Airbus A340-600HGW.

November 3 - Qantas announces an order for 8 more Airbus A380 along with an order for 4 Airbus A330-200.

November 7 - FedEx announces the first cancellation of the Airbus A380. Instead FedEx orders 15 Boeing 777 Freighters.

November 7 - The Royal Australian Air Force's first C-17 Globemaster III makes its maiden flight.

November 14 - easyJet announces an order for 52 Airbus A319.

November 26 - United Airlines Flight 814 returned to Denver Airport after suffering a Coyote strike on take off. The Boeing 737 returned safely.

December
December 1 - Air Berlin orders 60 Boeing 737 with delivery scheduled for November 2007.

December 1 - CR Airways based in Hong Kong changes its name to Hong Kong Airlines.

December 5 - Lufthansa becomes the first airline to order the Boeing 747-8 passenger jet with an order for 20 planes and options for an additional 20 planes.

December 8 - NASA F/A-18 Hornet modified with Active Aeroelastic Wing is designated the X-53.

December 15 - First flight of a U.S. Air Force aircraft, a B-52 Stratofortress, powered solely by a blend of synthetic jet fuel, produced by Syntroleum.

First flights

April
April 7 - First free-flight of Boeing X-37

June
June 8 - Bell 417
June 19 - Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy

August
August 9 - BAE Skylynx II UAV
August 15 - EA-18 Growler First production aircraft

September
September 5 - Boeing 737-900ER.
September 12 - Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter.

October
October 23 - Production CH-47F

December
December 15 - F-35 Lightning II
December 18 - MQ-8B Fire Scout

Entered service

February - Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner with PIA