Well known aircraft manufacturers like Douglas Commercial (founded in 1921), Boeing (founded in 1916) left a clear mark in the development of commercial aircraft. But also in Europe aircraft were being manufactured, Fokker, Koolhoven, Pander (being Dutch have to start with these), A.V. Roe, Farman, Dornier and many more. In some shape or form, they might still exist as an MRO, but independent aircraft manufacturing is just a shadow of itself, compared to history. Of course, there are exemptions, one of those is Svenska Aeroplan AktieBolag. SAAB. On this day in aviation history, the 2nd of April 1937, Svenska Aeroplan AktieBolag (what is now known as Saab) was founded with the merger of Svenska Aero AB (SAAB) and Linköping based ASJA the headquarters moved to Linköping. Currently, the SAAB headquarters is in Stockholm, Sweden and employs over 17.000 people worldwide. Known for their turboprops the Saab 340 and Saab 2000 they also developed fighters like the SAAB 39 Grippen and SAAB 37 Viggen and training aircraft like the SAAB 91 Safir
The Saab 340 prototype preserved near the Saab factory airfield at Linköping, Sweden in its last operational livery.