The air motion parameters (such as air speed, angle of attack, angle of sideslip, etc.) of an aircraft, which are important source parameters for flight control, navigation, and mission decision making, are usually measured by traditional airborne air data system, and can be used in flight stability control, accurate navigation and precise weapon launch. But the traditional air data system can no longer meet the performance requirements of modern military and civil aircraft in maneuverability, stealth, reliability, safety, comfort and economy due to the performance defects, such as measurement failure at low air speed and large maneuvers, significant aerodynamic delay, pitot tube icing, poor stealth performance, susceptibility to aircraft air turbulence, requiring complex compensation, etc., which result from its mechanical, nonlinear, near the fuselage measurement characteristics. To overcome the defects of the traditional air data system, the method using laser technology for measuring air motion parameters was first developed abroad, which can completely solve the defects of traditional airborne air data system due to its characteristics of high accuracy, high linearity, measurement far away form fuselage, embedded installation, etc..In this paper, the principle, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the traditional method and laser method for measuring air motion parameters are compared and analyzed. The obvious advantages and advancements of the laser measurement technology for air motion parameters make it a research hotspot at home and abroad. Throughout the technology development, the laser measurement technology for air motion parameters can be categorized two schemes including direct detection and coherent detection. The principle and composition of the two technical schemes are presented. Then the advantages and disadvantages of the two technical schemes are compared.The two technical schemes of laser measurement technology for air motion parameters, which have their advantages respectively, are developed synchronously nowadays and have been widely used. The application areas mainly include three aspects: accurate measurement of air motion parameters, flight calibration of conventional air data system and detection of wind shear and turbulence ahead of the aircraft. In this article, the development and application are mainly reviewed in these three aspects, and the achievements of prototype and flight test results in these three application aspects are provided. As can be seen from the research reports, the research institutes are mainly concentrated in Europe and America, including OADS corporation, Ophir corporation, Michigan Aerospace corporation, Thales corporation, ONERA, EADS, DLR, etc. Many flight tests have been carried out and a large number of test data have been accumulated by these institutes. At present, the prototype which can be equipped and applied has been successfully developed abroad. In contrast, domestic research is relatively backward, the main research institutions are AVIC CAIC and AVIC FACRI. In recent years, the principle prototype has been reported by the two research institutes respectively.The development direction of the two schemes of air motion parameters measurement technology are prospected respectively. The coherent detection scheme is likely to be first equipped for airborne application due to its low size, weight and power property. The detection capability of the coherent detection scheme at high altitude up to tens of kilometers needs to be continuously improved. The direct detection scheme should further reduce the size, weight, power and costs to meet the requirements of airborne applications. The application of quantum technology in laser measurement technology for air motion parameters is prospected. In the future, single photon detection technology and quantum enhancement technology based on compressed state photon are expected to be applied to improve the detective sensitivity of the system and achieve ultra-sensitive detection. In view of the huge development gap between home and abroad, some useful suggestions are provided for domestic research of laser measurement technology for air motion parameters, such as robust related industrial chain, focus on low SWaP performance design, strengthen cooperation, increase capital investment, etc.The purpose of review and further clarification of the principle, application and development trend of laser measurement technology for air motion parameters is to provide a useful reference and new ideas for the researchers engaged in prototype and application research, and to promote the in-depth application of laser measurement technology for air motion parameters in aviation fields.