Last of three all-business lines to London runs out of money

The last of the three all-business-class carriers operating between the U.S. and London – the British airline Silverjet – has suspended operations and grounded its aircraft. The airline had said a week ago that the new financing it had lined up from Middle East investors was late in arriving, and on Friday (May 30) the company ran out of cash. The airline had operated all-business-class flights between Newark and London’s Luton Airport, and between Luton and Dubai. “Silverjet continues to be in discussions with investors interested in supporting the business of Silverjet; however, it has yet to conclude such discussions to its satisfaction,” the company said in a statement. It advised customers holding unused Silverjet tickets to seek refunds from their credit card companies or travel agencies. With the demise of Silverjet service, the only remaining transatlantic all-business-class airline is France’s L’Avion, which flies between Newark and Paris Orly. All-business-class airlines MAXjet and Eos, which flew from the U.S. to London Stansted, both went out of business in recent months. Lufthansa and its subsidiary Swiss operate a limited number of all-business-class flights from the U.S. to German and Switzerland.