Product Code Database
Silverjet was a British all-business class airline headquartered at London Luton Airport in Luton, Bedfordshire, England," Contact Silverjet." Silverjet. 1 January 2008. Retrieved on 31 August 2009. that, prior to the suspension of operations on 30 May 2008, Suspension of Operations operated services to Newark Liberty International Airport and Dubai International Airport. A proposed rescue package fell through on 13 June when staff were Layoff and it was announced that the airline's assets would be sold.[3]
Silverjet's website, designed by Prospect, began taking passengers' bookings for flights on 12 October 2006, for a standard fare of £999. Silverjet's first scheduled flight between London Luton and Newark began on 25 January 2007, and a second daily service on this route was launched on 23 September 2007. Services from London Luton to Dubai International commenced on 18 November 2007, and the airline planned to launch other long-haul destinations in the future, but this expansion was halted because of Silverjet's financial troubles.
At the beginning of May 2008, Silverjet stated that they had arranged an $8.4 million loan facility from Viceroy Holdings, a Middle Eastern investor. However, the airline was unable to draw down $5 million that it needed urgently, and, on 23 May 2008, trading of Silverjet's shares was suspended on the AIM. Finance crisis forces halt to Silverjet shares Later, on 30 May 2008, a statement was released from Silverjet's CEO that stated Silverjet would cease operations and suspend all flights with immediate effect due to failing to secure funding. The last operating flight, SLR254, arrived at London Luton Airport from Dubai at 15:00GMT on the day of the announcement.
On 10 June 2008, it was announced that Ireland-based Kingplace would purchase Silverjet on behalf of unnamed private clients. However that deal fell through on 13 June, Silverjet went into liquidation and made all 420 staff redundant. An announcement by Lawrence Hunt, chief executive of Silverjet on 19 June 2008 dismissed rumours that Arabjet would keep the airline in business and stated that Silverjet's fleet would be permanently grounded and that the airline would not fly again.
In an interview with the Financial Times on 25 January 2007, Lawrence Hunt said: "It’s no use people just sitting around thinking about climate change and pretending it is someone else’s problem. That is what the airline business has done to date."
In January 2007, Silverjet was awarded by The Institute of Transport Management as "Environmentally Aware Airline 2007" in recognition of the stance the company had taken regarding carbon emissions.
| Airline hub |
| Dubai International Airport |
| London Luton Airport Base |
| Newark Liberty International Airport |
Prior to the suspension of operations, Silverjet operated twice-daily flights between London Luton Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, and a daily service between London Luton Airport and Dubai International Airport. Silverjet also operated cargo services between London and Newark that used the underfloor cargo capacity of their Boeing 767 passenger aircraft.
|
|
