Swiss firm 'makes offer for Silverjet'

A Swiss investment company is understood to have made an offer for collapsed business-class only airline Silverjet, it was reported today.

Kingplace, which is registered in Ireland and managed by Swiss management company Heritage, said it was making an offer on behalf of private clients, according to Reuters.

It is understood that the offer would be to buy and relaunch the airline which was placed in administration at the end of last month after failing to secure funding.

The news agency reported Ian Ilsely, director of Kingplace and chairman of Heritage, as saying: “We are excited at the prospect of acquiring Silverjet and resuming operations as quickly as possible with the existing staff.

“We will be investing in the future development and success of the brand. We will make a further announcement in due course.”

Lawrence Hunt, chief executive of Silverjet, was also quoted by the news agency as saying: “I am delighted to confirm that Kingplace is in conversation with (administrator) Begbies Traynor about Silverjet resuming operations in the near future.”

Silverjet, which flew to New York and Dubai from London Luton, went into administration at the end of last month after failing to secure an urgent £2.5m (€3.1m) cash injection from Middle Eastern investment group Viceroy Holdings.

It was the third business-class only airline to run into problems, with Eos and MAXjet, which both flew to the US, also hit by a combination of steep rises in aviation fuel prices and the downturn in the UK and US economies.