Silverjet could relaunch flights from Luton to New York and Dubai within weeks if a deal announced today is completed as expected on Friday and signed off by regulators.
Administrator Begbies Traynor confirmed it has agreed principal terms for the acquisition and relaunch of Silverjet with Irish-registered company Kingplace, part of a group owned by Swiss investment and management company Heritage. The investment is on behalf of unnamed, private clients.
All-business class carrier Silverjet went into administration at the end of May and it would be a remarkable turnaround for the airline to emerge within a fortnight. The agreement is subject to contractual completion by June 13 and will require the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority.
Heritage chairman Ian Ilsley confirmed the deal and said: “If negotiations are successful, we expect to take on all existing staff, to honour Silverjet’s existing customers’ tickets and see Silverjet return to the skies in a matter of weeks.”
Silverjet chief executive and founder Lawrence Hunt expressed delight, saying: “We have the necessary backing to relaunch Silverjet. We will be working round the clock to launch our New York and Dubai services as quickly as possible.”
Hunt promised to announce the date for services to resume “in due course”.