Our history: pioneering European aerospace

A rich and varied heritage

The first Airbus aircraft, the A300B1, first took to the skies on October 28th, 1972. For the A300B1 to happen it required bringing together, within an unprecedented industrial cooperation programme, the vision, expertise and knowhow of the best minds of the European aerospace industry. Airbus’ success owes as much to its culture of collaboration and diversity as it does to its pioneering spirit and innovative mindset.

Many of the Airbus sites in Europe are steeped in history dating back to the earliest days of aviation. Today in the 21st century, history is being written at Airbus sites globally as we pioneer the transition of our industry towards sustainable aerospace. Take a journey with us in the pages below, through some of the highlights of our history, before and since the creation of Airbus.

If you have any questions, require more information or would like to make a donation to our historical archives please write to us at heritage@airbus.com

Discover our product history

Our story: the evolution of Airbus

In the late 1960s, Airbus’ predecessor companies from France, Germany, the UK, and Spain laid the foundations for today’s industry leader in commercial aviation. This model would be extended to rotorcraft in the 1990s with the creation of Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) which emerged as a leader after the 1992 merger of the helicopter divisions of Airbus’ French and German parent companies. Collaboration between Airbus founding companies in the fields of defence and space date back to the late 1950s.

This would lead to the creation of a Military Aircraft division in 1999 as well as Space and Defence divisions in 2000 and 2003 respectively, since merged into Airbus Defence and Space in 2014. Read more about Airbus’ business units in the comprehensive histories on the following page.

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Our origins: the roots of Airbus

Airbus can trace its roots as far back as the 1910s and the dawn of aviation in Europe: many of the companies founded by some of Europe’s most famous aviation pioneers have since become part of Airbus. This is where our pioneering spirit comes from. A spirit which is driven by continuous innovation made possible by cooperation and diversity.

Learn more in the following page on the many major innovations, products, company milestones and chapters that preceded the creation of Airbus.

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