Does the thought of boarding a plane leave you with sweaty palms and jelly legs? Don't worry, you're not alone. Around 10 million suffer from aviophobia in the UK, which is bad news if you're a business flyer.

Around 40% of business travellers suffer from it, which impacts on their work and their willingness to fly to generate business, says Keith Godfrey, a former BA pilot whose website www.flyingwithoutfear.com specialises in helping people get over flying anxiety.

Bizarrely, the root of the fear doesn't come from flying itself, says Dr Samantha Redgrave, director of Redgrave Hypnotherapy: There's normally a trigger event (usually from childhood) when feelings of being trapped overload the nervous system and become repressed - ready to surface whenever you next fell trapped, ie when you fly.

CONQUER YOUR FEAR WITH DIAL'S FIVE-STEP PLAN:

1. Understand the risks

While experts agree throwing facts around won't alleviate phobias, the facts do speak for themselves. Your chances of being involved in an air accident are one in 11 million; statistically, that means you'd have to fly every day for 15,000 years to be involved in a crash!

Air travel gets safer and safer. The only area where perceived risk is greater, is terrorism - yet the chance of this is lower than pre-9/11 due to the number of security measures now in place. Terrorists go for soft targets, which airlines and airports are no longer, says Paul Izzard, co-director of Virgin Atlantic's 'Flying Without Fear' team.

2. Know what's going on

Planes make a lot of unfamiliar noises - and it's this unfamiliarity that makes them seem scary, says Izzard. So remember - whether it's the auxiliary power unit starting up, the wing flap motors, or the plane changing speed - these are sounds you want to hear. Keith Godfrey recommends familiarising yourself with these sounds on his website www.flyingwithoutfear.com.

The weather can seem equally scarey. But as with noise, speculation is behind the fear as weather conditions tend to have little actual impact on planes. Lightening doesn't affect planes as they aren't grounded, so it can't disrupt systems or start fires, and pilots remain in full control during turbulence, no mater how unpleasant it feels. Planes do not 'fall thousands of feet' nor is there any such thing as an air pocket, says Izzard. Pilots (who are trained to fly 'blind', using only flight instruments anyhow) have to switch to autopilot in low visibility. Wind only affects a plane when landing at over 50 miles an hour, and a cross-wind is blowing across the runway. Today's navigation systems can spot a storm 120 miles off.

3. Have faith in the plane

Aircraft are the result of years of painstaking research and development. They are built to withstand forces far beyond those that are likely to occur, says Godfrey.

The major airlines take the 'every possible outcome' approach, from firing frozen chickens at the engines to make sure they can withstand a flock of birds, to the pilots using a different oxygen supply to the rest of the plane just in case the main one fails.

Everything is also calculated to within an inch of its life - for want of a better phrase: From the maximum weight a plane can carry, to plotting all the runways along the flight plan in case of an emergency landing - in short, nothing is overlooked. Flying is dense with safety procedures - right down to the pilots eating separate meals in case one dish leads to food poisoning!

4. Know you're in good hands

You're not in control, the professionals are, says Izzard - with good reason. Pilots undergo 200 hours of flying training and 18 months of ground school before being let near a flight simulator. Both pilots and flight attendants receive annual training, so they're bang up to date on all equipment and procedures.

And that's not all. Engineers make thorough checks before and after the flight - so relax, they're checking, not fixing! Not only are they specialists in their field - eg propulsion or hydraulics - but another engineer independently verifies their work as well. It's not just on the ground that everything's under control either - every minute of a plane's journey is monitored by air traffic control and planes need permission to do everything from leaving their stand to changing altitude.

5. find professional help

There are several therapies to control your fear, including Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Cognitive Behavioural therapy (CBT) and Psychodynamic counselling, but perhaps the most popular is hypnotherapy. The success rate is very high - about 90%, says Dr Redgrave. Usually between two and five sessions are all that's needed, she adds. Or you could try something more hands-on, like flight simulators and airline courses - like BA's www.aviatours.co.uk and Virgin's www.flyingwithoutfear.info