THE BEGINNING - The advance in the flight simulation technology in the mid 90's, in parallel with the appearance of the 'virtual airline' concept and the need to develop a 'niche' for the European virtual pilot has resulted in the creation of Eurostar Aviation on June 1st, 1996. The group was initially known as the Eurostar Aviation Group, based in Amsterdam, Holland.

Special emphasis was placed on training programs, and cargo operations finally commenced on October 21, 1996 with a short Cessna 206 hop from Lelystad to Rotterdam via Amsterdam. The pursuit of realism and professionalism in the usage of Mircrosoft Flight Simulator with the collective goal of propagating it as a learning tool was the essence of the start-up.

The development of ESA was facilitated by the boom of the Internet in the late 1990s. Initially using the CompuServe Network as its sole means of online communication, the virtual airline expanded onto cyberspace with the publishing of a website in Dec 1996. ESA was hence made available to the rest of the online FS community and the membership base quickly rose to above 50 through mid 1997. Major stations ('hubs') were established in London Stansted, Amsterdam Schipol, and eventually Paris CDG.