diff --git a/app/Services/AirportFactory.php b/app/Services/AirportFactory.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e8d064e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Services/AirportFactory.php
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+<?php
+$factory->define(App\Models\Airport::class, function (Faker\Generator $faker) {
+    return [
+        'code' => 'Y',
+        'name' => 'Economy',
+        'price' => '100',
+        'capacity' => '200',
+    ];
+});
diff --git a/database/factories/FlightFactory.php b/database/factories/FlightFactory.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b01a425c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/factories/FlightFactory.php
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+<?php
+
+$factory->define(App\Models\Flight::class, function (Faker\Generator $faker) {
+    return [
+        'code' => 'Y',
+        'name' => 'Economy',
+        'price' => '100',
+        'capacity' => '200',
+    ];
+});
diff --git a/database/seeds/UnittestSeeder.php b/database/seeds/UnittestSeeder.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 75cadd52..00000000
--- a/database/seeds/UnittestSeeder.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-use Carbon\Carbon;
-use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
-
-class DevelopmentSeeder extends Seeder
-{
-    /**
-     * Run the database seeds.
-     *
-     * @return void
-     */
-    public function run()
-    {
-        //$this->seed_from_yaml();
-    }
-
-    protected function time(): string
-    {
-        return Carbon::now('UTC')->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');
-    }
-
-    protected function seed_from_yaml(): void
-    {
-        $time_fields = ['created_at', 'updated_at'];
-
-        $yml = Yaml::parse(file_get_contents(database_path('seeds/unittest.yml')));
-        foreach ($yml as $table => $rows) {
-            foreach ($rows as $row) {
-
-                # encrypt any password fields
-                if(array_key_exists('password', $row)) {
-                    $row['password'] = bcrypt($row['password']);
-                }
-
-                # if any time fields are == to "now", then insert the right time
-                foreach($time_fields as $tf) {
-                    if(array_key_exists($tf, $row) && $row[$tf] === 'now') {
-                        $row[$tf] = $this->time();
-                    }
-                }
-
-                DB::table($table)->insert($row);
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
-}
diff --git a/database/seeds/dev.yml b/database/seeds/dev.yml
index e05d3fda..075aed48 100644
--- a/database/seeds/dev.yml
+++ b/database/seeds/dev.yml
@@ -30,21 +30,25 @@ airlines:
     updated_at: now
 
 airports:
-  - icao: KAUS
+  - id: 1
+    icao: KAUS
     name: Austin-Bergstrom
     location: Austin, Texas, USA
     lat: 30.1945278
     lon: -97.6698889
-  - icao: KJFK
+  - id: 2
+    icao: KJFK
     name: John F Kennedy
     location: New York, New York, USA
     lat: 40.6399257
     lon: -73.7786950
-  - icao: EGLL
+  - id: 3
+    icao: EGLL
     name: London Heathrow
     location: London, England
     lat: 51.4775
     lon: -0.4614
+
 #
 aircraft_classes:
   - id: 1
@@ -112,3 +116,10 @@ aircraft_fare:
   - aircraft_id: 2
     fare_id: 3
     capacity: 10
+
+flights:
+    - airline_id: 1
+      flight_number: 100
+      dpt_airport_id: 1
+      arr_airport_id: 2
+      route: KAUS KJFK
diff --git a/database/seeds/unittest.yml b/database/seeds/unittest.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 792d6005..00000000
--- a/database/seeds/unittest.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-#
diff --git a/tests/FlightTest.php b/tests/FlightTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a62a4b8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/FlightTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+<?php
+
+
+class FlightTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function setUp()
+    {
+        parent::setUp();
+
+        $this->addData('airline');
+        $this->addData('airports');
+    }
+
+    public function addFlight()
+    {
+        $flight = new App\Models\Flight;
+        $flight->airline_id = 1;
+        $flight->flight_number = 100;
+        $flight->dpt_airport_id = 1;
+        $flight->arr_airport_id = 2;
+        $flight->save();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * mainly to test the model relationships work correctly
+     */
+    public function testAddFlight()
+    {
+        $this->addFlight();
+
+        $flight = App\Models\Flight::where('flight_number', 100)->first();
+
+        $this->assertEquals($flight->dpt_airport->icao, 'KAUS');
+        $this->assertEquals($flight->arr_airport->icao, 'KJFK');
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/TestCase.php b/tests/TestCase.php
index 7912b95d..fe7e1bc1 100755
--- a/tests/TestCase.php
+++ b/tests/TestCase.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+use Carbon\Carbon;
+
 abstract class TestCase extends Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\TestCase
 {
     /**
@@ -45,4 +47,35 @@ abstract class TestCase extends Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\TestCase
         $app = $this->createApplication();
         return $app->make('App\Repositories\\' . $repo_name);
     }
+
+    public function readYaml($file)
+    {
+        return Yaml::parse(file_get_contents(base_path('tests/data/' . $file . '.yml')));
+    }
+
+    public function addData($file)
+    {
+        $time_fields = ['created_at', 'updated_at'];
+        $curr_time = Carbon::now('UTC')->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');
+
+        $yml = $this->readYaml($file);
+        foreach ($yml as $table => $rows) {
+            foreach ($rows as $row) {
+
+                # encrypt any password fields
+                if (array_key_exists('password', $row)) {
+                    $row['password'] = bcrypt($row['password']);
+                }
+
+                # if any time fields are == to "now", then insert the right time
+                foreach ($time_fields as $tf) {
+                    if (array_key_exists($tf, $row) && $row[$tf] === 'now') {
+                        $row[$tf] = $curr_time;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                DB::table($table)->insert($row);
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/data/airline.yml b/tests/data/airline.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4412561c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/airline.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+airlines:
+  - id: 1
+    code: VMS
+    name: phpvms airlines
+    active: 1
+    created_at: now
+    updated_at: now
diff --git a/tests/data/airports.yml b/tests/data/airports.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1d61a1cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/airports.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+airports:
+  - id: 1
+    icao: KAUS
+    name: Austin-Bergstrom
+    location: Austin, Texas, USA
+    lat: 30.1945278
+    lon: -97.6698889
+  - id: 2
+    icao: KJFK
+    name: John F Kennedy
+    location: New York, New York, USA
+    lat: 40.6399257
+    lon: -73.7786950
+  - id: 3
+    icao: EGLL
+    name: London Heathrow
+    location: London, England
+    lat: 51.4775
+    lon: -0.4614