Since Silverjet, the Luton based business class airline, went into administration at the end of May, it has been a roller coaster of a ride for those following the news of bids and counter bids, promises and disappointments.
On the 1st of June it was announced that Viceroy Holdings, who had been behind the failed attempt to save the beleaguered airline, were interested, along with a group of managers formerly employed by Silverjet.
A few days later, on the 5th of June, the administrators, Begbies Traynor, announced that there were three or four interested parties and that they hoped that the deal would be settled by the end of the week.
The next day, an Irish investment company, Kingsplace Ltd, entered the fray on behalf of clients, although they were said to be facing competition from an unnamed airline.
On the 7th of June it was the turn of the Reubens brothers, property developers, who had been responsible for an injection of £10 million into Silverjet last Nov.
On June 10th ArabJet, a Dubai based airline, was hotly tipped to be the unnamed airline mentioned earlier by the administrators.
The very next day, Kingsplace Ltd were said to have agreed terms and had high hopes that the Silverjet planes would be flying again within weeks, with staff being kept on and passengers’ tickets being honoured. It all sounded rosy until June 14th, when it was announced that all rescue bids had failed and that 420 staff had been made redundant. Kingsplace’s bid had failed because of regulatory problems and it now seems unlikely that the airline will ever rise from the ashes.
