Partial list of events that marked aviation in 1980:
(See also List of years in aviation)- January
- 8, in San Francisco, a Mooney 231 lands after flying coast to coast non-stop, setting a record by completing the flight in 8 hours and 4 minutes.
- 16, in England, British Island Airways and Air Anglia merge to form Air UK.
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- 4, St. Louis: The first of 92 F-15J eagles, built by McDonnell Douglas for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, flies.
- 13, the last produced Concorde (number 16) is delivered to British Airways.
- 19, Sikorsky delivers its last of the S-61 commercial helicopeters.
- 23, India: Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, dies when his private aerobatic biplane has an accident.
- June ???, European Helicopter Industries formed.
- July
- 6, Leicester, England: The largest light airplane meet outside the United States brings 750 small planes to the Popular Flying Associations annual meeting.
- 12, Long Beach, California, McDonnell Douglas' first KC-10A makes its maiden flight.
- 17, Devon, England: an Viscount plane of charter airline Alidair lands safely after suffering damage to all four engines.
- 21, Utah: The F-16 officially nicknamed the Fighting Falcon in a ceremony.
- 23, France: The Aerospatiale AS.366G Daulphin II copter takes off for the first time.
- August
- September
- October
- November
- 9, Sussex, England: Dan-Air registers the last commercial flight by a Comet 4 jet. The plane flew enthusiasts on a round-trip flight from London.
- December
- 7, Beijing: Pan Am's Boeing 747, the China Clipper, arrives from JFK International Airport in New York, to Beijing, after a stop on Tokyo. It marks the first time since 1949 that a commercial flight between the United States and mainland China is completed.
- 17, San Francisco: The first McDonnell Douglas DC-9 series 80 enters service, with PSA from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
- 26, U.S.S.R: Aeroflot puts the Ilyushin Il-86 into service.