This is the question we were asking ourselves over and over when we began planning our Handbook of Business Aviation in Europe. Now our second issue has been published, and the web version is fully up to speed, we have found some answers.

These answers lurk in our otherwise impenetrable web statistics, covering the 10,000 page impressions per month that the Handbook receives, and they have yielded some very interesting results.

The Charter section of the website lists the contact details, aircraft fleets and airport bases for 1,341 European charter operators. Having sifted through the statistics we can reveal that so far this year the most-viewed company page is Germany’s Daimler-Chrysler Aviation.

In the Maintenance section, we have detailed pages for each of the 1,121 aircraft maintenance providers throughout the extended continent. Topping the list with the most visited page is Flying Service of Belgium.

The prolific Beech 200 Super King Air is the most popular aircraft page visited in the Aircraft section, which features specifications, charter operators and maintenance organisations for each aircraft.

The Airport section includes pages for each of the 1,278 airports and airfields in Europe and the Middle East. Facilities are detailed for each airport, along with based operators, handlers and FBOs. Prague/Ruzyne is the most visited airport page and, not surprisingly, Aviation Service, Ruzyne, is the most popular handler among our website visitors, followed closely by Sky Services of Milan Linate.

The final section lists almost 3,000 service and supplier companies in our categorised industry section. The most popular category so far this year is aircraft dealers, however the most visited company page is that of Malta’s Sierra Aviation Services, who are listed under charter brokers, consultancy, finance and leasing and flight support. Sierra benefits from being one of the companies opting for space in the Services and Suppliers section of the Handbook, featuring its own page on the website in that section.

The website is growing fast and Handbook editor Stephen Campbell anticipates that it will continue to do so, offering aircraft owners, operators and industry professionals the opportunity to find detailed information about business aviation companies throughout Europe and the Middle East that is accurate, informative and easy to access.

In addition to the detailed listings and information on offer, the website features links to EBAN stories that are relevant to the page you are viewing, so you can check out the company, aircraft and airport developments and read the latest news from the online version of the magazine.

Copies of the recently published quick-reference printed version will be available at NBAA 2004 between October 12 to 14, where EBAN will be exhibiting with our sister title, Global Business Jet on booth 1623.

So, we now know which pages you like best. But which pages are missing? Drop by our booth or email me on martin@ebanmagazine.com and let us know. We have been delighted with the popularity of the website so far and we want your opinions, so that the Handbook can continue to grow and offer a unique insight into what’s hot and what’s not amongst European aircraft owners and operators.

The Handbook can be found online at www.ebanhandbook.com

Martin Moore, Senior Reporter, EBAN