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Silverjet: Discount tickets, business-class travel!
A new airline from London to New York promises business travel at low-budget fares.
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
April 12, 2006
Silverjet, a new business-class airline is ready to fly from early 2007. Silverjet, based in UK will fly from London Luton to New York. The new business class-only airline, interestingly, will be a low-cost airline.
Business class and low-cost flight tickets in the same breath? Apparently, that is what Trans-Atlantic business air travellers can expect. According to Silverjet CEO Lawrence Hunt, in most of the regular airlines, the business class flight tickets are used to
subsidize those traveling with economy class flight tickets. By dropping the economy class, Silverjet hopes to earn better margins and provide better services, said Lawrence, an entrepreneur who has successfully started several businesses.
Silverjet also has on its board Peter Owen, an ex-British Airways operations director as chairman and John Bavister, an ex-Thomas Cook and Airtours executive as finance director.
Right now, Silverjet is caught up with raising the resources for the airline launch. It can't wait - it is expecting to have ten aircraft to join the fleet in course of time. The company is due to get listed in London Alternate Investment Market (AIM), where Silverjet Airlines is hoping to raise $43.5 million. Post the float, Lawrence will own 10 per cent stake in the company, another 10% by directors and the rest by the public and institutional shareholders.
Silverjet Airlines,featuring only business class seats will be
modeled on the the lines of other European low-cost airlines like easyJet and Ryanair. Each Silverjet aircraft will have 100 seats on board which will be of extensible flatbed type. All business-class services will be available, and the airline promises to reduce check-in time to 30 minutes for its travellers.
Last year saw the launch of two new premium business class airlines traversing the Atlantic - EOS Airlines and MAXJet. However, Silverjet Airlines will be unique in having low-cost tickets for business-class travel.
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