History

Read below how airodyssey.net went from being a very small personal homepage to a larger, more popular site visited by over 9,000 people from around the world, every month.

1998

March 1: At 15 years of age, I created my very first homepage on GeoCities, a once popular free web hosting provider which closed in late 2009. My homepage was called "Sergio Ortega's Hangar" and its first article was Final Descent.

April 12: After shutting down the website temporarily amid an exam period, I reopened it under the name "The Hangar". This marked the official birth of what is known today as airodyssey.net. At the time, it was like an aviation magazine, offering four articles each month plus an air disaster movie review. Interactive quizzes were offered like today. Visitors per month: 20... if I was lucky!

August 1: The Hangar became airOdyssey and the website underwent its first major redesign, not only due to the name change but to make room for a banner exchange program. A first co-author joined.

September 1: AIRodyssey featured airline TV commercials for the first time.

December: A website known as Aviation Internet Resources (AIR) suggested an association and as a result, airOdyssey became AIRodyssey. The association included change of logo and colors, in exchange of top exposure at AIR's website, which instantly brought many visitors per day. A co-author replaced the first one. Visitors per month: about 400.

1999

May: A major U.S.-based aviation magazine mentioned AIRodyssey. It was the first documented mention of this website in the media.

October: The co-author at the time suddenly resigned and around the same time, AIR vanisheed from the Internet. Under the sudden turn of events, I wanted to just shut down the website, the first phase being the interruption of the monthly five articles. Fortunately, the second or third phase never came up. I decided to bring the website to life.

December: A major redesign took place. This is when popular features like the color-coded tabs, Guess The Airline, the reference guide appeared for the first time. Visitors per month: over 700.

2000

January 1: AIRodyssey survived the Y2k computer bug ;-)

January 14: A very popular "airline logotype museum" was inaugurated. This museum was taken over by AeroSite following a friendly agreement.

November 1: Another popular feature was released: sample scripts of inflight passenger announcements.

2001

April 12: On its 3rd anniversary, AIRodyssey became airodyssey.net. Goodbye pop-up banners from the old free web hosting provider! Visitors per month: over 3000.

September 11: I updated the website very frequently on that day as the tragic events unfolded. The intention was to inform the people, particularly aviation enthusiasts, unable to access the major news websites due to an overflow of traffic. The first headline on airodyssey.net simply said "Breaking news", with a short description of the very vague collision with the World Trade Center. It would soon become "Multiple attacks on the United States" with more details.

2002

July 1: I released version 5 of the website, which is as wide as you see now. The television commercials finally got a section of their own and since then, that section has been growing.

2003-2007

April-July 2003: airodyssey.net celebrated its 5th anniversary! An anniversary logo was released for the occasion. It was also the time to test a new application (currently in use) to automatically update Guess The Airline every month. It was the only section updated on a regular basis. Visitors would occasionally send quizzes or movie reviews. The 7th anniversary was also commemorated (lucky number 7!).

2008

April 12: airodyssey.net's 10th anniversary! An appropriate logo, mimicking the previous one, was released. Through the years, the website underwent minor cosmetic changes (version 5.1, 5.2, etc., if you want to call them that way).

2009

January 1: Version 6, everyone! I was particularly proud to release this one. The color-coded tabs remained but the navigation was completely revised to reduce the number of clicks to get anywhere and to find things easily. A Quote of the day feature enriched the front page. And above all: the website became printer-friendly!

2010

March 1: airodyssey.net launches its mobile version. Now, aviation enthusiasts on the go can quickly find airline and airport codes, read entertaining material or play a fun quiz, right from their mobile phone or handheld device.

The more things change...

Over the years the website evolved, expanded, and adapted itself. One thing that never changed from day one (except during the holidays): the front page always greets visitors with a friendly airline-like "Welcome aboard"! The more things change, the more they stay the same!

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