Silverjet boosted by MAXjet failure
UK all-business class carrier Silverjet picked up “significant” numbers of passengers from rival MAXjet after it collapsed two days before Christmas.
Silverjet saw carryings in December rise by more than 10% over the previous month to 8,239, representing a load factor of 52.8%.
The carrier agreed to honour the MAXjet ticket price for a limited number of seats on the New York route after the airline filed for bankruptcy.
CEO Lawrence Hunt said: “Before MAXjet ceased to operate, our average yield was over 50% higher than MAXjet’s and our revenue per aircraft was two and a half times higher in our first half year of operation, as well as our fuel cost per sector being 23% lower.”
He described the Luton-based airline, which serves New York and Dubai, as being in a “very strong position” after attracting £22 million of additional investment.
Hunt revealed that 20% of passengers had flown with the airline at least once before and it was seeing an increasing number of enquiries from business travellers.
“With the well publicised possibilities of strike action in the coming weeks at BAA operated airports and with one of our competitors [Virgin Atlantic], we are also seeing a strong increase in bookings from corporate customers who are normally restricted from flying only with specific airlines,” he added.
by Phil Davies
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