Chief pilot Magnus Weiman is the proud new owner of a Jeppesen Aluminium Flight Case. The Swede was picked from a host of respondents to this year’s FBO feedback questionnaire and says he’s delighted with his new acquisition. He told EBAN: “My old one is between five and ten years old so this has come at the perfect time.”

Weiman is the ceo of a small business in Linköping called Datalogikonsult, which offers computer consulting and software reselling. The company operates just one aircraft, a Piper Seneca. Said Weiman: “We use it primarily for internal purposes, for transporting myself and other people to different customer sites.

The Seneca is perfect for our purposes because it is a low cost aircraft and usable in almost any weather.

“Admittedly, it’s not very fast but that doesn’t matter because we normally fly relatively short legs.”

With four passengers, the Seneca has a three to four hour range, which covers most places where Datalogikonsult does business. Said Weiman: “Most of the time, we fly within Sweden but we go to other countries a couple of times year. Places like the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland.”

In response to our FBO questionnaire, Weiman gave highest marks to Sweden’s Dala Airport AB, particularly for its customer service, professionalism and technical support. He told EBAN: “The best thing about Dala are the personnel. They are very helpful – as opposed to the larger airports in Sweden where small aircraft are often neglected or given a low priority. Because it’s a small airport, you get to know the people there and they always give you a good service.”

Weiman says this situation is not necessarily true of other European countries. He said: “I’ve been to Schiphol a couple of times and I always get a very good service there. It just depends.”

Customer service is clearly something that Weiman holds dear. Asked about the services in which European FBOs could most improve, he replied: “Many FBOs in Sweden and Europe are not very focused on the client. They more or less take the clients for granted. If you look at the places where I go, historically the airports have been run and owned by the government. They have never needed to care about the client but I think they should start doing that, if they don’t already.”

With regard to the Swedish business aviation scene, Weiman says it is not a very busy industry at present. He said: “It’s not very strong because there is a lot of paperwork involved and the costs are quite high. Also, business aviation has never been very much used in Sweden because we have a long tradition of social democratic government.

“If you have a small company with an aircraft, they are jealous and think you have got it for fun.

“Most people believe that business aviation is something you use because of your private interests and because it’s your hobby. This is in stark contrast to the US, where they don’t think that at all.”