February 6, 2006: British carrier Silverjet has launched its maiden flight from Luton to Newark, a service that materialised after years of planning. The airline being the third business only carrier to commence services from London airports, the prices of transatlantic luxury travel are expected to tumble further.

The carrier has commenced operations with a one flight per day, while it plans to launch a second daily flight in July and another in October. The carrier is also mulling of introducing further low fare routes, once it establish is existing routes.

Silverjet's first flight also launches its carbon-offsetting programme. The carrier has included a mandatory carbon offset contribution in all its ticket prices, giving fliers the opportunity to reinvest 'Carbon Points' into a number of climate friendly projects around the world.

The programme has been set up in partnership with climate change consultants - The CarbonNeutral Company - and has been developed in accordance with the CarbonNeutral protocol, a quality mark for action on climate change.

The airline intends to lure air travellers who usually travel in economy on the legacy carriers and corporate clients who typically book business class seats on legacy airlines.

The carrier is pricing its return tickets from £799, rising to £999 lead-in fares, while other carriers operating on the route like Maxjet is offering tickets at £790 and Eos at £3,550. The carriers have their exclusive services like Eos providing only 48 seats that recline to a flat bed onboard its 757, while Maxjet has 102 seats with double than normal legroom space.

Silverjet aircraft has 100 business class flat beds, personal in-flight entertainment systems, wireless Internet and plasma TV screens, apart from a separate ladies toilet.

The carrier hopes factors like a check-in time of just 30 minutes at the private aircraft terminal at Luton airport and a mandatory carbon offset contribution in its ticket prices to make it beat competition by miles.

"Long-haul airline travel has been associated with hassle, disappointment and environmental damage, and we believe that we will address all these concerns," the carrier's chief executive Lawrence Hunt said.

According to industry sources, the carrier would have a tough time as major players were offering a lot of incentives like frequent flyer miles and additional services.

However, Silverjet is not looking at a single route alone. The carrier intends to operate on 30 different routes, even though the destinations are yet to be finalised.

According to Hunt, the airline would look at a range of different markets, most likely markets outside North America.

The carrier has devised a 'Breakfast Express' for those who want to sleep later and choices of appetisers and main courses along with its premium service. Customers can access portable in-flight entertainment system with noise cancelling headsets, latest releases and silver screen classic movies, in addition to US and UK TV programming.