Job Losses As Rescue Bid For Silverjet Crashes

At least 300 workers have lost their jobs after a rescue deal for blighted airline Silverjet fell through.

Swiss investor Kingplace had provisionally agreed to take over the Luton-based airline after it went into administration two weeks ago.

However, Nigel Atkinson and Mark Fry of Begbies Traynor, joint administrators for Silverjet and its subsidiaries said in a statement: "As a result of the unusually complex negotiations with third parties, Kingplace is no longer in a position to acquire Silverjet as a going concern.

"As a consequence, we have today had to make the entire workforce formally redundant, in line with our legal obligations as administrator.

"We are extremely disappointed to have had to make these redundancies, which we had been working hard to prevent.

"We continue to negotiate the sale of Silverjet's assets for the benefit of the Company's creditors and will provide an update as soon as we are able."

Silverjet, which launched in January last year and flew to New York and Dubai from London Luton, employed 260 pilots and cabin crew and 40 administration staff.

The carrier cancelled its flights after a £2.5 million funding deal from a Middle East investment group fell through affecting 10,000 passengers.

Silverjet said in a statement that it was "truly sorry for the disruption" caused to passengers and thanked them for their support which "has meant everything".

Kingplace, which is registered in Ireland and managed by Swiss management company Heritage, agreed to take over Silverjet for an undisclosed sum earlier this week.

It is reported that the airline ran into difficulties because of soaring fuel costs and "a loss of confidence" and the airline also operated in the shadow of competition from the giant British Airways.

(DS)