Carrier hopes deal will save it from Eos' fate

Following the demise of two all-business-class airlines in recent months (MaxJet in December and Eos in April), business travelers might be wondering about the wisdom of booking the last remaining all-premium carrier in the U.S.-U.K. market – Silverjet, which flies between Newark-London Luton and London-Dubai. Silverjet announced that on April 29 it entered into a memorandum of understanding that calls for an investor based in the United Arab Emirates to put an initial investment of $25 million into the company, with the prospect of a further $75 million investment “in the ongoing development of Silverjet and to participate in the international rollout of the Silverjet brand and concept into new markets in the Middle East, the Far East and Africa.” The airline also noted that “in the unlikely event that these agreements are not completed, Silverjet will have to source alternative means of funding as a matter of urgency.” The announcement of the tentative investment deal sounds eerily like a similar announcement from Eos Airlines, which said on April 19 that it had a tentative agreement for a $50 million capital infusion from one of its investors. Seven days later, that deal collapsed and Eos filed for bankruptcy.