This issue of European Business Air News is the first to go to 566 extra people, hand-picked because they are responsible for 1,950 business aircraft, fixed wing and turbine rotary, across the great continent of Africa. From now on they too will be receiving monthly news about their peers in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and their own region, and we hope they find it interesting and valuable.

In the 23 years since this magazine launched we have reported on the emergence of business aviation in eastern Europe, followed its modernisation in Russia and the CIS, and tracked its transition into a business tool for overseas investment from the Gulf States. Now we expect to bear witness to the birth of business aviation around the wider Middle East, and its blossoming around the whole of Africa.

Our coverage will now have a new diversity. We will continue to be the leading magazine for business aviation news throughout the hugely valuable and increasingly integrated European arena, but we will also be charting opportunities and developments in some of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Africa has not simply found a place on our masthead, it will also be an important and integral part of all our coverage. Our own directory, the Handbook of Business Aviation (www.handbook.aero), is already being expanded to include African airports, handlers, charter, maintenance and training organisations. This information can be consulted online, and will form an important new part of our printed handbook next May.

We kick off coverage this month with a brief introduction to African business aviation, and news of the fledgling African Business Aviation Association, as well as first reports of the continent's operators in our news columns. These are exciting times, from Svalbard in the north to Cape Town in the south, and EBAN will be there to cover it all.

David Wright, Editor