Review: Silverjet Dubai to London business class flights

By Richard Baker

The first point of contact with Siliverjet is online and its website is clean, fast to load and intuitive. Importantly its flights are very good value. When AME Info flew, the ticket in the January sale price cost just Dhs7,000 ($2,000), with a further Dhs330 for the chauffeur drive service.

An additional extra for the business traveller who cares about their carbon footprint is the ability to offset your carbon emissions for a nominal charge. Relative to all its competitors, this represented excellent value. Clearly, only having one flight a day does mean there's little choice in terms of itinerary and may mean that the Silverjet schedule doesn't fit with an important business meeting.

Easy check in

The chauffeur drive service was punctual and of a high standard. After being whisked over Business Bay Bridge to the Executive Terminal at Dubai International Airport, AME Info was greeted by friendly and helpful staff who take your luggage and passport and escort you to their functional lounge.

There is no queuing at immigration and your passport is delivered back to you without fuss, assuming your passport photo is relatively recent and you are easily recognizable. Amenities at the terminal are basic in comparison to Terminal 1 at Dubai, but this is offset by the personal service, and the fact that you only need to arrive at the airport an hour before the flight departs.

Seating on board isn't to the level of an ultra modern business class - there are no flat beds for instance. Seats are however spacious with enough leg-room for a traveller in excess of 6ft 5in.

The airline felt very British, probably due to its UK hub and limited routes, but everything was well presented. As a budget business class airline, Silverjet does miss out on some frills, such as having a limited magazine stock, a solid but not spectacular in-flight entertainment system and no video safety drill. For the nostalgic traveller, it is reassuring and entertaining to see an old style live safety demonstration carried out by human beings.

Clear customer service

Where Silverjet wins on board is through its clear focus on customer service. Cabin crew are friendly, professional and unobtrusive and the whole flight is structured to allow as much time to sleep or work as possible without incessant interruptions from announcements or food and drink service.

One thing that may put people off Silverjet is it flies into the London hub of Luton. However, if your final destination is north or central London it is a very easy experience.

From landing to exiting the airport was a mere 15 minutes and 10 minutes later (after availing of the free 'Silver Taxi' to Luton Parkway station), we were boarding one of the frequent fast trains to London St Pancras. The journey into London and then on was much less stressful and time consuming than from Gatwick or Heathrow.

Not gaining any air miles is of course a disappointment, although there is a Silverjet-only frequent flyer programme, entitling them to a free ticket for every 10 bought.

Overall, flying Silverjet is a good experience. If you want the glitz of lots of shopping, a seat that reclines into 2,000 positions and hundreds of channels of entertainment, then it isn't for you. But if you want really good value combined with excellent, personalised customer service, then Silverjet is well worth trying out.

See also:
Video: Sivilised flights to the UK
Audio: Executive interview - Lawrence Hunt, CEO Silverjet: Taking the stress out of flying
Audio: Executive interview - Lawrence Hunt, CEO Silverjet: The sustainability of a business class-only airline