Silverjet will not fly again, says chief executive

Failed all-business carrier Silverjet will not fly again, its chief executive Lawrence Hunt has told The Daily Telegraph.

Hopes were revived that the airline would take to the skies again after rumours surfaced that Middle East proposed carrier Arabjet had made a bid for the beleagured business-class carrier.

But Hunt has rubbished plans publicised by Arabjet to revive the London-Luton based airline.

"They are just a bunch of timewasters," he alleges. "We’ve been talking to them since February, providing business plans, but it never moved forward. They can't even raise the £125,000 needed to secure negotiations with the administrators. They just do not have the funding."

Arabjet's website says it plans to launch its own services next year to high-end passengers looking for premium travel within the Middle East.

Mr Hunt added: "There is nothing to buy any more because the CAA has now revoked all the licences."

Hopes that Silverjet, which operated to Newark airport and to Dubai until it was grounded on May 30, will fly again have been reignited a few times as various undisclosed bids have been put forward. Irish registered company Kingplace, which is managed by a Swiss trust, made a significant play for the carrier last week but failed when it failed to guarantee future aviation licences and the planes' leases.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

ArabJet may buy troubled airline Silverjet: source

LONDON (Reuters) - ArabJet, a planned premium class airline based in Dubai, is talking to the administrators of SilverJet, the failed British business class carrier, about a possible sale, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.

Luton-based SilverJet, which operated three planes between London, Dubai and New York, collapsed into administration last month due to weak demand and record fuel prices.

ArabJet officials in Dubai were not immediately available for comment.

The company aims to have a market base of about 500,000 customers, mostly in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, according to its Web site. ArabJet Holidays and ArabJet Limousine services will be added afterwards, the Web site says.

Talks to buy SilverJet by Kingplace, an Irish-registered company managed by Swiss trust and management company Heritage, collapsed on Friday, when the company made its 420 employees redundant.