All Business Class Air Wars - Silverjet v L'Avion v EOS v Maxjet
| There is currently only one all-business class airline flying the transatlantic to New York - L'Avion from Paris Orly ORY to Newark. All business class start-ups Silverjet, Maxjet and EOS Airlines have fallen by the wayside. |
The following table provides an overview of the all business class carriers and former carriers on the transatlantic routes:
| | L'Avion |
| |
Started
November 2005 | Started
November 2005 | Started
January 2007 | Started
January 2007 |
Ceased
27th April 2008 | Ceased
24th December 2007 | In
Operation...bought by BA OpenSkies | Ceased
30th May 2008 |
| USA | USA | France |
UK |
|
London STN to New York JFK | London
STN to New York JFK | Paris
ORL to New York EWR |
London LTN to New York EWR |
No
other routes | STN
to IAD / LAS / LAX | No
other routes | LTN
to Dubai DXB |
| 22
x Weekly to NYC | 6
x Weekly to NYC | 12
x Weekly to NYC | 14
x Weekly to NYC |
| Boeing
757s | Boeing
767s | Boeing
757s | Boeing
767s |
| 48
seats 2-2 | 102
seats 2-2-2 | 90
seats 2-2 | 100
seats 2-2-2 |
| 78"
seat pitch / lie flat | 60"
pitch | 48"
pitch | 75"
pitch (almost flat) |
| return
was from $2,350 / £1,171 | return
was from $1547 / £863 | return
from €1,180 , $1,550 | return
was from $1,955 / £999 |
Maxjet was the real budget option with special offer prices as low as £430 / $750 return and had spread its wings to also serve Washington IAD, Los Angeles LAX and Las Vegas LAS. However its service was not in the same league as EOS or Silverjet and technical problems with aircraft sometimes caused passengers severe delays. The Maxjet brand is still up for sale.
EOS Airlines was the most expensive and exclusive and targeted its product directly against British Airways First and Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class - but at a business class price. EOS had the most frequent schedule which was a big plus for business travellers. The company had plans to expand its route network with flights from Stansted to Newark and Dubai, as well as Paris to New York - this would have brought them head-to-head with both Silverjet and L'Avion.
In the end a failire to obtain necessary financing resulted in the end of EOS. EOS are liquidating their assets.
Silverjet was reasonably priced and had an excellent product with around 100 seats on their aircraft. From a UK market perspective, Silverjet seemed to have the upper hand. Luton is London's quietest commercial airport and Silverjet had their own dedicated terminal. Luton is also the UK's main private jet airport, so premium passengers were able to connect onwards to anywhere in Europe by executive jet. Silverjet's only operational drawback (like Maxjet) was any maintenance issues with the old aircraft caused timetable cancellations or delays.
Silverjet had their own financing issues and their share price was suspended before they announced termination of service leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Takeover talk remained but all 400 staff were made redundant in June 2008.
In November 2007 American Airlines started a daily service from JFK to London Stansted using a Boeing 767 configured with 191 economy and 30 business class seats. Economy returns have been priced from £290 / $600 and a business class return from around £1,500 / $3,000 - this has surely been a significant factor in the demise of Maxjet and EOS. AA will discontinue the service from July 2008.
L'Avion has less frills than Silverjet and is priced at a similar level to Maxjet meaning it undercuts Air France significantly. Its has recently been purchased by British Airways' OpenSkies and will slowly be absorbed into that operation.
Air Travel Articles & Resources > Business Class Flying > L'Avion vs Silverjet vs EOS vs Maxjet
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