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Silverjet announces Luton-Dubai service

Published: 19/09/2007 - Filed under: News »

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All-business class carrier Silverjet has announced it will ply the competitive London-Dubai route from this November. The airline will fly a daily service to the emirate, and will be the only commercial carrier to use the executive terminal at Dubai's International Airport.

Flights from London Luton will start on November 18, with the Dubai-bound service departing at 2100 and arriving at 0830 the next day. The return leg will leave Dubai at 1030, arriving back in London at 1445, meaning the carrier will also be able to offer connecting flights to the US on its New York Newark route (which departs at 1645).

Silverjet says that premium traffic to the emirate is growing at 20 per cent year-on-year, a figure that has led the carrier to enter the fray. But it will face stiff competition, with Emirates alone offering eight daily flights from London to Dubai (from both Heathrow and Gatwick), and established carriers such as BA and Virgin also offering daily direct flights from Heathrow. If you take into account regional departures from Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, and the recently added Newcastle, Emirates now offers a total of 98 direct flights per week from the UK to Dubai. For a rundown of direct flights from London-Dubai, see below.

Of course Silverjet will argue that its prices (fares start from £1,099 return, with a £999 introductory offer for flights taken before December 18), and the fact it can offer private terminals at both ends, will encourage passengers to move to its all-business class service. The 5,000sqft executive terminal at Dubai International Airport will allow the carrier to offer passengers 30-minute check-in and dedicated security (as it does at Luton), and Silverjet says it will have a specially tailored service on the route including Halal and Arabic menus, a Qibla service (Qibla being the direction a Muslim should face for prayers), and ladies-only lavatories, "to meet the needs of customers from the United Arab Emirates".

The fact that Silverjet will be the only airline to fly from London Luton to Dubai will also attract customers in the airport's catchment area that would otherwise have to travel out to Heathrow or Gatwick. But as recent events have shown, when the carrier was forced to delay the start of its second daily flight to New York (see online news July 25), it only takes one of the carrier's current fleet of three aircraft to have technical difficulties for its schedule to be disrupted – something a larger carrier like Emirates or BA would be able to avoid.

Silverjet also announced its annual results this week, with a total of 25,000 passengers flying with the airline in the twelve months to March 2007. The carrier said that its load factor reached 80 per cent last month, but start-up costs meant it made a loss of £18.2m last fiscal year.

For more information visit flysilverjet.com, and to send us your comments on the carrier's decision click on the link below.

Report by Mark Caswell

Direct flights London-Dubai

Emirates – eight flights daily
0840 (from LHR), 1000 (LGW), 1400 (LHR), 1415 (LGW), 1700 (LHR), 2030 (LHR), 2115 (LGW), 2215 (LHR)

British Airways – two flights daily
1240, 2140 – both from LHR

Virgin Atlantic – one flight daily
2100 from LHR

Royal Brunei – one flight daily
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun – 0940, Wed, Sat – 1705. All flights from LHR

Biman Bangladesh Airlines – one flight daily except Thurs and Fri
Mon – 2100, Tues – 1400, Wed – 2105, Sat – 1400, Sun – 1405. All flights from LHR

Silverjet – one flight daily from November 18
2100 – from London Luton

Emirates also offers daily flights from the following UK cities: Birmingham (two flights daily), Glasgow (one flight daily), Manchester (two flights daily), Newcastle (one flight daily).

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