About Us

IVAO is the acronym in English for International Virtual Aviation Organization, which translated into Spanish is International Virtual Aviation Organization, an international organization, based in Belgium, that provides an environment for learning and experience.
The first steps to establish aerial simulation in a “massive” multiplayer mode, took place in the mid-90's, with the creation of the first software for pilots and controllers: SquawkBox and ProController, respectively. These two softwares were connected to a server called FSD, which allowed to go from a one-to-one environment, to multiple-to-multiple.
With the use of these two softwares, the first large area simulation network was born, SATCO (currently VATSIM). On December 16, 1998 IVAO was founded, when a group of members left SATCO to form a new network, this due to conflicts in the administration that originated within the organization.
At the end of 2005, another management conflict, this time within IVAO, led to a division of the same. The incumbent president of IVAO (Morten Hansen) continued with IVAO.org, while other members of the organization continued with IVAO.aero. In 2007, IVAO.aero was officially registered as a Non-Profit Organization (NPO), under Belgian law (VZW in Belgium).