EOS is to start operating London Stansted- Dubai from 6 July ” in direct competition with fellow business class only carrier, Silverjet.
The Stansted airline also announced today (11 February) that it would operate to New York Newark ” it already serves JFK ” but it is the Dubai service that is attracting attention.
Silverjet has been the subject of feverish UK media attention lately and indeed on the same day that EOS announced its new Middle East operation, revealed that the proposed ”10m ($19.4m) investment by property developers, the Reuben brothers, would not be converted into 60p ordinary shares.
But EOS batted away any coincidence that its news came hot on the heels of Silverjet”s financial situation. ”There is no way that we anticipated anything else happening within days of our announcement,” EOS senior vice president, John Morgan told ABTN.
”We don”t believe we operate in the same sector as Silverjet ” anyone who has flown with us will agree that we are in a different category altogether.”
EOS will operate daily services to Dubai using its classic Boeing 757 model configured with 48 seats and will serve Newark in the same way.
Morgan also said that the decision to use Newark was the result of ”massive loyalty to Newark from the New Jersey area ” we reacted accordingly.”
Meanwhile, a statement from the Reuben brothers” financial arm, TFB, has equally shed some more light on the Silverjet situation: ”Because of recent market conditions, we have decided not to exercise our right to convert our loan to Silverjet into equity,” it said.
”Instead, we will continue to work with the company and monitor its performance going forward. We continue to believe the company has a sound business model.”
Silverjet CEO, Lawrence Hunt, has strongly defended his position, insisting that the carrier would work with the Reuben brothers on a number of unspecified projects in the future.
”As ever, our primary focus is to continue driving passenger numbers and yields, thereby restoring shareholder value,” said Hunt, adding: ”We are highly confident that our February load factor will exceed 60% at an increased yield.”
And Stansted Airport is clearly pleased with the new EOS routes that complement other long-haul services such as American Airlines” recent decision to launch New York services from the Essex base.
”This is another positive step in taking forward our ambition to further develop long-haul services from Stansted, especially across new and emerging markets such as the Middle East, China and India,” said Stansted planning director, Nick Barton.