According to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated May 18, 2006, June 2 is celebrated in our country as a professional holiday of civil aviation workers. On June 2, 1938, our first aviation group was created, and thus the foundations of civil aviation in Azerbaijan were laid.

The first airplane flights in our country took place in Baku in 1910, when the Russian aviator Utochkin made four consecutive flights along the Balakhani “highway” in a Farman-type airplane. After this event, the number of flights in Azerbaijan began to increase. Airfields in Baku and Yevlakh were built and put into operation.
        
During the time of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, a number of important steps were taken towards the development of aviation. According to the agreement on military cooperation signed with Georgia in 1919, a group of our soldiers and officers was sent to this country for training, 9 of them specialized in the profession of military pilots. The first long-distance flight in the history of Azerbaijani aviation was carried out in 1919, during the time of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. A Farman-30 type aircraft, taking off from the Baku airport, flew over the Caspian Sea and successfully landed in Turkmenistan - the city of Krasnovodsk. Of great importance for that period was the decision of the ADR government in 1919 to create military aviation in the army. The government highly appreciated the role of aviation in increasing the country's defense capability.
       
After April 1920, our civil aviation began to operate as part of the USSR aviation. During this period, Azerbaijani aviation faced a number of restrictions, but was able to achieve some progress. Thus, in 1921, the first postal cargo plane took off in Azerbaijan, and in 1923, the joint-stock company of Transcaucasian Civil Aviation “ZAKAVIA” was created, the founders of which were “Mugansk Reclamation Construction”, “Caspian Shipping Company” and “Azneft”. In 1923-1928, the first passenger transportation was carried out on the Baku-Tbilisi-Baku route on a Junkers aircraft, and in 1928 the second international flight was carried out on the territory of the USSR - Kharkov-Baku-Pahlavi (Iran). On June 25, 1933, the Baku-Moscow flight over the Caucasus Mountains was carried out for the first time, and in 1937 a regular Baku-Moscow-Baku flight was opened. This flight carried 15 passengers daily, which was considered a great achievement for that time.
         
On June 2, 1938, by order of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet, the Azerbaijan Aviation Detachment of the Civil Air Fleet was created, and the Baku airport became an independent economic unit. This made it possible to increase the regularity and safety of flights.
            
During the war of 1941-1945, two aviation factories operated in the Baku village of Keshlya, which continuously produced UTI-4 and Yak-3 aircraft, as well as skis for seaplanes. The legendary Katyusha rockets were also being prepared in Baku. During the war, the «Iritutumlu» aircraft repair plant operated in Ganja. During the war years, 782 aircraft of various types, as well as more than 1,550 aircraft engines and other aircraft parts, were repaired and sent to the front.
          
The greatest successes of our aviation coincided with the years when Azerbaijan was led by national leader Heydar Aliyev. In the 70-80s of the last century, when the great leader first headed Azerbaijan, a qualitatively new era began in the history of the development of our civil aviation. During this period, airports equipped with artificial runways were built in Ganja, Yevlakh, Naftalan, Nakhchivan, Zagatala, Lankaran, Agdam, Agstafa and Sheki. National leader Heydar Aliyev, using his great influence at the former Soviet level, managed to strengthen the material and technical base of the republic's civil aviation, update and expand the machine park. Thanks to the efforts of Heydar Aliyev, the Azerbaijani air fleet was one of the first in the Soviet Union to receive Tu-134 and Tu-154 jet aircraft, Mi-2 and Mi-8 helicopters on the territory of Azerbaijan.
       
National leader Heydar Aliyev made his invaluable contribution to the development of civil aviation in independent Azerbaijan, returning for the second time, at the insistence of the people, to the political leadership of the republic in the summer of 1993. Thus, the problems that arose in our domestic aviation in the first years of our independence were eliminated in a short time thanks to the attention and care of the National Leader.
       
After Azerbaijan gained independence, one of the most important issues related to our aviation was related to the creation of a higher education center, which was supposed to work towards training national aviation personnel. For this purpose, the National Aviation Center, created in 1992, was renamed the National Aviation Academy (MAA) by decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan on February 24, 1994. This academy began to perform the function of training national personnel - aviation personnel at the highest level.
        
In 1996-1999, in order to improve the production activities of the State Concern Azerbaijan Airlines and adapt its structure to world standards, new enterprises were created in January 1997. In June 1997 - the AZALOIL enterprise, November 1997 - the International Commercial Department, January 1998 - the AZAL cargo aviation company, October 1999 - the AZAL aviation company and in the same year the Technical Center.
        
Under the leadership of the great leader, the State Program for the Development of our Civil Aviation for 1998-2003 was successfully implemented. As part of this program, on October 2, 1999, a new airport complex was built at Baku Airport, fully meeting international standards.
         
As a result of the successful economic policy of Heydar Aliyev, for the first time in the history of civil aviation in Azerbaijan, private enterprises and aviation companies were created as a result of attracting private capital in order to improve the quality of passenger and cargo transportation. Establishment of Imar Airlines in October 1994, Turan Air Airlines in December 1994, Sky Catering in July 1997, Ground Handling Corporation in March 1999, Airport Gate in December 2001, the Silk Way airlines in October 2001, and in November 2004 the VST enterprises, opened up wide opportunities for the introduction of the private sector into air transport.
         
Today Azerbaijan has the image of a reliable partner and a dynamically developing country in the region. The growing influence of our republic both in the region and in the international arena, close participation in international processes taking place in the world are the result of the hard work of President Ilham Aliyev, a worthy follower of the political course of Heydar Aliyev. Under the leadership of Ilham Aliyev, a new historical stage began in the development of air transport, which is an important component of the overall transport system of our republic. High economic development, the growth of the international authority of Azerbaijan, the expansion of its political, economic, cultural and tourist ties have led to a rapid increase in the role and importance of air transport in the life of the country. With the rapid development of the regions and districts of Azerbaijan, increasing their economic and tourism potential, new modern airports (Lankaran, Zagatala, Gabala, Yevlakh) and existing airports (Baku, Nakhchivan, Ganja) were built in various parts of the republic. As a result of the reconstruction, Heydar Aliyev International Airport CJSC Azerbaijan Airlines, which received awards in various categories, successfully expanded its airfield and flight geography.
       
Civil aviation of Azerbaijan also plays its historical role in the implementation of the “Great Return” plan in Karabakh. On October 26, 2021, the airport in the city of Fuzuli was named “Air Gate of Karabakh”, and on October 20, 2022 it was officially given this name - “Air Gate of Karabakh”. The commissioning of the airport in the city of Zangelan, called the “Air Gate of East Zangezur,” also became a significant event in the aviation history of the country.
        
Today, civil aviation in Azerbaijan fully complies with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and Azerbaijan Airlines is a member of such well-known civil aviation associations as ICAO, IATA, ECAC, and the Interstate Aviation Committee.
         
Thanks to the thoughtful policies, attention and care of President Ilham Aliyev, civil aviation in Azerbaijan is constantly developing.

Recommended literature:

1. Heydər Əliyev və Azərbaycan mülki aviasiyası : 1923-2023: kataloq / "Azərbaycan Hava Yolları" Qapalı Səhmdar Cəmiyyəti, Milli Aviasiya Akademiyası ; layihənin rəh. F. Hüseynova ; tərt.: F. Hüseynova, Y. Muradova. - Bakı : İndigo, 2023. - 159 s.
2. Əhmədova, Gülnarə Telman qızı. Mülki aviasiya sahəsinin innovativ inkişafı : monoqrafiya / G. T. Əhmədova ; elmi red. A. B. Abbasov ; "Azərbaycan Hava Yolları" Qapalı Səhmdar Cəmiyyəti, Milli Aviasiya Akademiyası. - Bakı : Zərdabi Nəşr MMC, 2024. - 192 s.
3. Azərbaycan Mülki Aviasiya tarixi: 1910-1980: dərs vəsaiti /Azərb. Hava Yolları, Qapalı Səhmdar Cəmiyyəti, Milli Aviasiya Akad., Mülki Aviasiya Muzeyi ; layihənin rəhbəri A. C. Paşayev ; tərt. F. Hüseynova ; red. E. Hüseynqulu oğlu ; [rus dil. olan mətnləri Azərb. dil. tərc. ed. Y. Muradova (dizayn)]. - Bakı: [n. y.], 2012. – 152 s.
4. Эванс, А. А.Авиация. От зарождения до наших дней: полная энциклопедия /А. А. Эванс, Д. Гиббонс; пер. с англ. Л. М. Дрейера ; [отв. ред. О. В. Сухарева (мл.)]. - Москва: АСТ, 2014. - 239 с.