British Civil Aviation in 1971

31 January
A new London Air Traffic Control Centre becomes operational at West Drayton in Middlesex.

4 February
Rolls-Royce is put into receivership.

25 April
The United Kingdom's oldest airworthy airplane, a Blackburn monoplane built in 1912, flies for the first time in five years to take part in a Shuttleworth Air pageant at Old Warden.

25 April
The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) operates its first Boeing 747 flight between London Heathrow and New York.

30 June
Laker Airways applies to the British Air Transport Licensing Board to launch a low-cost, 'no frills' scheduled service between London and New York.

1 August
British European Airways (BEA) celebrates it's 25th anniversary, by which time it had carried more than 8.7 million passengers.

4 June - 11 August
Sheila Scott becomes the first person to circumnavigate the Earth, via the poles, in a light aircraft.

5 August
The United Kingdom Civil Aviation Act 1971 is approved, officially establishing the Civil Aviation Authority and British Airways Board.

28 October
The All-British Black Arrow rocket successfully launches the first United Kingdom satellite into orbit.