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Lawrence Hunt is good with figures. And right now, the long numbers he is punching into his computer look pretty spectacular. "We are going to make US$10m operating profit a year just on this one route. Trust me - this is a fantastic business model," smiles the young CEO of Silverjet.

The "route" Hunt is talking about is the lucrative London to Dubai airline market. And his fantastic business model involves converting Boeing 767s into "all business class" airlines, with 100 flatbeds - not to mention the private jet-style perks of flying out of Dubai's private aviation terminal, and landing at an equally fancy terminal attached to London's Luton Airport.

"Our prices are on average 50% less than other business class fares on this route," enthuses a beaming Hunt.

He has every reason to be beaming: on November 18, Silverjet will launch its inaugural London to Dubai service. With prices at around US$2000 it is already 50% down on what the likes of Virgin Atlantic, Emirates Airline, British Airways and Gulf Air can offer in business class. Better still, as Hunt says, "what we are offering is not just cheaper business class tickets but the private jet experience. You get chauffeured to the airport. There is no check-in - you sit on a nice sofa with a nice drink while someone does everything for you and then drives you to the steps of the plane. The whole thing takes just 30 minutes," he says.

If Silverjet really can offer the full works for half the price, Hunt may go down as one of the industry's pioneers. "It comes down to price and service," he says.

"What we are doing is not something totally new. Lufthansa did an all business class service in 2003 and KLM also had one," he continues. "What makes us different is the private jet model, and the fact that we can make it cost-effective, so it works for us. One of the key things for our model is that you don't have to go through the conventional airports - we will only use the private terminals."

Silverjet was created thanks to a flotation on the London AIM market in May last year. In January this year the first route opened up, between London and New York. By July this year, so popular was the service that a second daily service was launched, and a third Boeing 767 added to the books - each converted to carry 100 six-foot 3-inch flatbeds.

Extensive research into more than 30 potential new destinations followed, but all roads eventually led back to Dubai.

"Every way we looked at the equation, it had to be Dubai. There are currently three million passengers flying a year between London and Dubai and that is growing at 20% a year. To make a profit we need to get just 25,000 of those passengers," he says.

With the airline flying 340 times a year (taking some days out due to maintenance), it means that Hunt needs to fill 80% of his 34,000 available seats a year - something he has more than managed in advance bookings so far.

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