Timeline of Major French Aircraft Manufacturers & Designers, 1905 - Present

• 1879: Société des Chantiers de Bacalan (Bordeaux) merged withAteliers de la Dyle (Louvain, Belgium) as Société de Travaux Dyle et Bacalan, with headquarters in Paris; production focus on railway vehicles, shipbuiding,aeronautics, public works. Factories were destroyed during World War I.

• 1881: Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard established.

• 1890: Émile Salmson, Ing. workshop established to produce steam-powered compressors and centrifugal pumps.

• 1896: Salmson renamed Émile Salmson & Cie.; production expanded to eventually include automobiles, aircraft, and aircraft engines.

• 1902: Nieuport-Duplex established to manufacture engine components.

• 1905: Louis Blériot begins building aircraft, eventually establishes Société Blériot Aéronautique.

• 1905: Ateliers d'Aviation Edouard Surcouf, Blériot et Voisin established by Gabriel Voisin and Louis Blériot.

• 5 November 1906: Gabriel Voisin buys out Louis Blériot, reorganizes as Appareils d'Avation Les Frères Voisin (along with his brother, Charles Voisin).

• 1907: René Hanriot begins building aircraft.

• 1908 - 1909: Maurice Farman and Henri Farman begin building aircraft.

• 1908: Gaston Caudron and René Caudron begin building aircraft.

• 1909: Nieuport-Duplex reorganized as Société Générale d'Aérolocomotion to manufacture aviation components.

• 1910: Société des Monoplans Hanriot established.

• 1910: Société Pierre Levasseur Aéronautique established.

• 1911: Société Anonyme des Avions Caudron established.

• 1911: Société d'Avions Louis Breguet established, later renamed Société Anonyme des Ateliers d'Aviation Louis Breguet.

• 1911: Aéroplanes Deperdussin established.

• 1911: Société Générale d'Aérolocomotion reorganized as Nieuport et Deplante to manufacture aircraft and aviation components. Later that year, after the death of Edouard Nieuport, reorganized as Société Anonyme des Établissements Nieuport.

• October 1911: Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier established.

• 1912: Hanriot reorganized as Société de Constructionde Machines pour la Navigation Aérienne (CMNA).

• 1912: Société de Constructions Aéronautiques d'hydravions Lioré-et-Olivier established.

• 1912: Voision renamed Société Anonyme des Aéroplanes G. Voisin.

• 1914: CMNA factories captured by Germany during World War I. Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. established.

• January 1912: Avions Henri et Maurice Farman established.

• 1913: After several reorganizations and renamings, Deperdussin assets acquired by Blériot and renamed Société Pour l'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD).

• 1916: Société d'Emboutissage et de Constructions Mécaniques (Amiot-S.E.C.M.) established.

• 1917: Société Industrielle d'Aviation Latécoère established.

• 1918: Les Ateliers des Mureaux established.

• 1918: Les Ateliers des Mureaux established.

• 1918 - 1919: SPAD assets and factories liquidated.

• 1919: Société des Aéroplanes Henry Potez established.

• 1919: Voisin ends production of aircraft; changes to production of automobiles as Avions Voisin.

• 1919: Société des Avions Michel Wibault established.

• November 1920: Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine (CAMS) established.

• 1921: Établissement Gourdou-Leseurre established.

• 1921: Nieuport takes over Société Astra des Constructions Aéronautiques, renamed Nieuport-Astra. Later renamed Nieuport-Delage, eventually Nieuport-Tellier after taking over Tellier Brothers.

• 1921: Chantiers Aéronavals de la Méditerranée established.

• 1922: Blériot reorganized as Blériot Aéronautique S.A.

• 1925: Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard acquires Gourdou-Leseurre, Loire, and Loire-Nieuport. Joint-venture between Loire and Loire Gourdou-Leseurre as Loire-Gourdou-Leseurre.

• 1925 - 1927: Loire shipyard establishes aviation division to build seaplanes.

• 1926: Société Provençale de Constructions Aéronautiques established as subsidiary ofSociété Provençale de Constructions Navales shipbuilder.

• 1928: Dyle et Bacalan acquired by Ateliers et Chantiers Maritimes de Sud-Ouest; aircraft business spun off as Société Aérienne Bordelaise (SAB).

• 1928 - 1930: Société des Avions Marcel Bloch established.

• 1929: Avions Latham acquired by Amiot-S.E.C.M.

• 1929: Société Anonyme Chantiers Aéronavals Étienne Romano established.

• 1930: Mureaux merged with railway manufacturer Ateliers de Construction du Nord de la France as Les Ateliers de Construction du Nord de la France et des Mureaux (A.N.F.-Mureaux).

• 1930: Les Ateliers des Mureaux merged with Ateliers de Construction du Nord de la France as Les Ateliers de Construction du Nord de la France et des Mureaux (A.N.F.-Mureaux).

• 1930: Merger of Hanriot and Lorraine as Lorraine-Hanriot.

• 1930: Loire shipyard aviation division established as Loire Aviation.

• 1931: Wibault merges with Penhoët (Chantiers St. Nazairre) shipyard as Chantiers Aéronautiques Wibault-Penhoët.

• 1932: CAMS assets acquired by Potez as Potez-CAMS.

• 1932: Nieuport-Tellier renamed Nieuport.

• 1933: End of Lorraine-Hanriot merger.

• 1933 - 1934: Partnership between Loire Aviation and Nieuport.

• 1 July 1933: Caudron acquired by Renault as Société Anonyme des Avions Caudron (Caudron-Renault).

• 1934: Farman, A.N.F.-Mureaux and Blériot absorbed into l'Union Corporative Aéronautique.

• 1934: End of operations of Gourdou-Leseurre after disagreement between founders.

• 1934: Wibault-Penhoët acquired by Breguet.

• 1935: Merger of Loire Aviation and Nieuport as Société Anonyme Loire-Nieuport.

• May 1936: International Worker's Day demonstrations & marches by trade unions lead to strikes at multiple aviation industry factories, eventually spreading to other industries.

• August 1936 - April 1937: Majority of French aircraft industry nationalized into five regional groupings of companies, known as Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques (SNCA).

• 16 November 1936: Breguet (Nantes-Bouguenais) and Loire-Nieuport (St. Nazaire, Issy-les-Moulineaux) nationalized as Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques de l'Ouest.

• 16 November 1936: Blériot (Suresnes), Bloch (Villacoublay, Courbevoie, Châteauroux-Déols), Lioré et Olivier (Rochefort), SASO (Bordeaux-Mérignac), SAB (Bordeaux-Bacalan), UCA (Bordeaux-Bègles) nationalized as Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud-Ouest.

• 21 December 1936 - 1 February 1937: C.A.M.S. (Vitrolles), Lioré et Olivier (Clichy, Argenteuil), Potez (Berre-l'Étang), Romano (Cannes), SPCA (Marseille) nationalized as Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud-Est.

• 1937: Latécoère acquired by Breguet.

• March 1937: Farman (Boulogne-Billancourt) and Hanriot (Bourges) nationalized as Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre, commonly referred to as Aérocentre.

• April 1937: Amiot-S.E.C.M. (Caudebec-en-Caux), A.N.F.-Mureaux (Les Mureaux), Breguet (Le Havre), Potez-C.A.M.S.(Sartrouville, Méaulte) nationalized as Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Nord.

• September 1936 - April 1937: Dewoitine (Toulouse) nationalized as Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Midi.

• Sometime in 1936: State-run Arsenal de l'Aéronautique relocated from Orléans to Breguet (Villacoublay).

• 1 September 1939: German invasion of Poland.

• 1940: SNCA de l'Ouest absorbed into SNCA du Sud-Ouest.

• 10 May 1940: German invasion of Western Europe, including France.

• 22 June 1940: Armistice of France.

• 1940 - 1941: SNCA du Midi absorbed into SNCA du Sud-Est and Potez-CAMS.

• 1940 - 1941: SNCA de l'Ouest assets acquired by SNCA du Sud-Ouest.

• 1941: S.A. des Usines Farman established.

• 1944: S.A. des Usines Farman nationalized as part of SNCASO.

• 1945: Ateliers Aéronautiques de Suresnes established in former Farman factory.

• 1945: Caudron absorbed into SNCAN (Nord).

• 10 November 1945: Bloch reorganized as holding company Société des Avions Marcel Bloch.

• 20 November 1947: Bloch renamed Société des Avions Marcel Dassault.

• July 1949: Aérocentre liquidated and assets to Nord (Bourges), Sud-Ouest, SNECMA.

• 31 December 1952: Arsenal move to Châtillon-sous-Bagneux and privatized as Société Française d'Etude et de Constructions de Matériel Aéronautiques Spéciaux (SFECMAS).

• 1953: Etablissements Fouga builds factory in Toulouse to manufacturer CM.170 Magister.

• 1953: Potez renamed Société des Avions et Moteurs Henry Potez.

• 1 October 1954: SFECMAS absorbed into Nord, later renamed Nord Propulsion Division.

• 1956: End of aircraft production by Ateliers Aéronautiques de Suresnes.

• September 1956: Fouga Toulouse factory taken over by Breguet, Dassault, Morane-Saulnier, Sud-Est Aviation and Ouest-Aviation in joint-venture as Air-Fouga.

• 1 September 1956: SNCA du Sud-Est renamed Sud-Est Aviation.

• 1 March 1957: Merger of Sud-Est and Sud-Ouest as Sud-Aviation.

• January 1958: SNCA du Nord renamed Nord-Aviation.

• 16 May 1958: Air-Fouga acquired by Potez as Potez Air Fouga.

• January 1959: Joint-venture between Nord-Aviation, HFB (Germany), VFW (Germany) as Arbeitsgemeinschaft Transall to develop and build C-160 transport.

• 7 January 1962: Morane-Saulnier acquired by Potez as Société d'Exploitationdes Etablissements Morane-Saulnier (SEEMS).

• November 1962: Joint-venture between Sud-Aviation and BAC (UK) develop and built Concorde SST.

• 1965: Potez acquired by Sud-Aviation.

• 1966: Potez civil aircraft line (including former Morane-Saulnier) spun off as subsidiary Société de Construction d'Avions de Tourisme et d"Affaires (SOCATA).

• May 1966: Joint venture between Breguet and BAC (UK) as SEPECAT to develop and build Jaguar.

• June 1966: Breguet renamed Breguet Aviation.

• 1967: Joint-venture between Sud-Aviation and Westland (UK) develop and build Gazelle, Puma and Lynx helicopters.

• April 1967: Potez Air Fouga acquired by Sud-Aviation.

• 1 January 1970: Sud-Aviation, Nord-Aviation and SEREB merged into Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale. SOCATA remained as subsidiary of Aérospatiale.

• 14 December 1971: Merger of Breguet Aviation & Bloch as Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation.

• 1990: Dassault-Breguet renamed Dassault Aviation.

• 1992: Joint-venture between Aérospatiale helicopter division and Deutsche Aerospace SA (DASA, Germany) as Eurocopter SA.

• March 1992: Joint-venture between Eurocopter, Agusta (Italy), Fokker (Netherlands) as NHIndustries to develop and build NH90.

• 1994: Joint-venture between Eurocopter, Mil (Russia), Kazan (Russia) as Euromil JSC to develop and build Mil Mi-38.

• June 1999: Merger of Aérospatiale and Matra as the Aérospatiale-Matra Concern.

• 19 July 2000: Merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (Germany) and CASA (Spain) as European Aeronautics Defence and Space Company N.V. (EADS). SOCATA remained as subsidiary of EADS.

• 18 September 2000: Eurocopter renamed Eurocopter SAS (division of EADS).

• 7 January 2009: Majority share of SOCATA acquired by DAHER; at some point known as DAHER-SOCATA.

• 17 January 2014: EADS reorganized as Airbus Group N.V. with three divisions: Airbus Military, Airbus Defense and Space, and Airbus SAS. Eurocopter renamed Airbus Helicopters SAS.

• March 2015: DAHER-SOCATA renamed Daher Airplane Business Unit.

• 22 May 2015: Airbus Group N.V. reorganized as Airbus Group S.E.

• 1 January 2017: Airbus Group S.E. and Airbus SAS merged into Airbus S.E., with Airbus Helicopters division and Airbus Defence and Space division.

(work in progress)