page_title: 2018 in aviation
section_title: March
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 in aviation / Events / March
caption_attribution_description: Las Vegas - McCarran International (LAS / KLAS) USA - Nevada, January 7, 2018 Photo: Tomás Del Coro
context_page_description: This is a list of aviation-related events in 2018.
context_section_description: 9 March
  Turkish Airlines ordered 25 Boeing 787-9 and 25 Airbus A350-900 with five options each, to be delivered from 2019 to 2024, as the catalogue price of the A350s alone is $9.5 billion.
  11 March
  A Turkish Bombardier Challenger CL-604 TC-TRB crashes in the Zagros Mountains near Shahr-e Kord, Iran, killing all 11 people on board.
  12 March
  US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 registered S2-AGU, crashed while landing at Tribhuwan International Airport near Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board.
  13 March
  The 10,000th Boeing 737 is rolled-out, a MAX 8 destined for Southwest Airlines: continuously manufactured since 1967, over 4,600 orders are pending.
  The General Electric GE9X, the Boeing 777x engine, makes its first flight.
  16 March
  The smallest 737 MAX-7 took off for its first flight from its Renton factory for three hours, reached 250 kn (460 km/h) and 25,000 ft (7,600 m), and landed in Moses Lake, WA, Boeing's flight test centre.
  20 March
  Ryanair announces it will acquire - subject to EU Competition approval - 75% of Austrian airline Laudamotion, built from the assets of the former Niki including A320 airliners, for €50m plus €50m for year 1 start up and operating costs, aiming for profitability by year 3 and a fleet of 30.
  21 March
  Asian low-cost carrier Lion Air Group takes delivery of the first stretched 737 MAX-9 before entering service with Thai Lion Air.
  22 March
  Boeing declines to appeal the US ITC ruling in its CSeries dumping petition.
  All Nippon Airways announces the integration of its two low cost carrier subsidiaries Peach Aviation and Vanilla Air, starting in the second half of the FY2018 and to be completed by the end of FY2019 into Peach, planning over 50 aircraft beyond FY2020, up from 35 today, operating on more than 50 routes, up from 39 currently, and targeting a ¥150 (1.36) billion revenue and a 10% operating profit for FY2020.
  25 March
  Boeing delivers the first stretched 787-10 to Singapore Airlines.
  26 March
  Founded in 1977 and once the largest provider of US Essential Air Service from 1992 to 2002, Great Lakes Airlines stopped scheduled passenger flights due to pilot shortage caused by US regulations requiring first officers to have 1,500 flight hours, up from 250 hours since 2013, leaving a fleet of 28 Beechcraft 1900Ds and six Embraer 120s, but continue to support Aerodynamics Inc. flights.
  29 March
  A takeover bid of £8.1 billion ($11.4 billion), up from £7 billion initially in January, from turnaround specialist Melrose Industries for UK aerostructure specialist GKN is accepted by a majority of the later's shareholders, while Melrose aims for an over £10 billion market capitalisation.
caption: The 10,000th Boeing 737 is rolled-out on 13 March, a MAX 8 for Southwest like the one pictured
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