With the advancement of smart materials and advanced manufacturing processes, bio-inspired morphing aircraft have progressively overcome the limitations of morphing mechanisms in terms of weight and energy efficiency, sparking growing research interest among domestic and international aviation industries and academic institutions. Morphing aircrafts face multiple design challenges during development, including requirements for maintaining smooth and continuous aerodynamic surfaces, control efficiency, anisotropic load-bearing and deformation stiffness characteristics, as well as flight controllability. This paper comprehensively reviewed the structural design and key technologies for morphing mechanisms in large-scaled aviation platforms and small-scaled UAVs. The synergistic integration of compliant architectures, intelligent material systems, and advanced fabrication techniques was emphasized to advance the development and implementation of morphing mechanisms. Key technologies such as mechanical metamaterials, smart actuators and sensors, flexible skins, and compliant mechanisms were analyzed, along with their main challenges and unresolved issues, to prospect future development trends in morphing aircraft technology.