World Aviation in 2005

January 29
Nonstop flights between mainland China and Taiwan take off for the first time since 1949.

February 3
Kam Air Flight 904 crashes. There were no survivors.

February 17
several airlines will have to pay heavy compensation to passengers for flight delays and cancellations under a European regulation.

February 17
Opening of a new international airport in Nagoya, Japan. It is the third Japanese international airport.

March 5
Steve Fossett completes the first non-stop, solo circumnavigation of the world in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, completing the trip in 67 hours and 2 minutes.

March 11
Jetsgo ceases all operations and declares bankruptcy protection.

March 11
China's first private airline, Okay Airlines has its maiden revenue flight.

March 17
A judge has found millionaire Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik and sawmill worker Ajaib Singh Bagri not guilty of conspiracy and murder in the 1985 Air India bombing that killed 329 people.

July 2-3
Steve Fossett and co-pilot Mark Rebholz recreated the first direct crossing of the Atlantic by the British team of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown on June 14 1919 in a Vickers Vimy bi-plane.

August 2
Air France Flight 358 bursts into flames after skidding off the end of a runway after landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport. All 309 people aboard survive.

August 6
A Tuninter ATR-72 heading from Italy to Tunisia crashes into the Mediterranean Sea, killing 16 of 39 on board.

August 14
Helios Airways Flight 522 crashes into a mountain north of Marathon and Varnavas, Greece, killing all 121 passengers and crew.

August 16
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a charter flight, crashes into the mountains of Venezuela with no survivors.

August 23
TANS Peru Flight 204 crashes in Peru.

September 5
Mandala Airlines Flight 091 737 crashes in Indonesia killing at least 117.

September 21
JetBlue Airways Flight 292, an Airbus A320 makes an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport after its nose wheels got stuck at a 90 degree angle. All 145 people on board survived.

October 6
A small plane carrying cargo for FedEx, including six vials of research viruses, crashed in downtown Winnipeg. The only woman on board, the pilot, was killed but there were no injuries on the ground.

14 November
Boeing launches 747-8.

First flights
April 27
The first Airbus A380, registration F-WWOW, makes its maiden flight from Toulouse, France