Business airline Maxjet was today forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors.

The announcement came after last-ditch talks over the weekend to arrange a financial rescue package collapsed.

In a letter to customers, Maxjet’s president and chief executive officer William Stockley said the company had been forced “to take this drastic measure” by a combination of high “fuel prices and the resulting impact on the credit climate for airlines”.

“We are extremely saddened to discontinue a service that we so passionately believe in, and we thank our loyal flyers who helped build Maxjet since our start,” wrote Mr Stockley.

Maxjet was launched in 2005 and operated 5 Boeing 767 aircraft flying between London Stansted, New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

But the group said its board had been left with no option but to authorise a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code after realising it could no longer continue to operate.

One aviation industry source said Maxjet had been flying with one aircraft out of service and only 61 per cent of its seats occupied - well below the 70 per cent or so load factor required to break even.

In recent months, the company has been hit by a combination of factors including increased competition from rivals such as BA and Virgin - which dropped their business class fares earlier this year - and a decline in consumer spending linked to the global credit crunch, particularly among Maxjet’s key customers: big banks and other financial institutions.

Trading in shares of Maxjet was suspended two-and-a-half weeks ago.

On December 7, the company said that it had requested the suspension "pending clarification of its financial position".

A spokesman for key rival Silverjet insisted the problems at Maxjet were specific to the company and not to business-class airlines as a whole.

He said Silverjet had a different business model, focused on using its aircraft more frequently and to a smaller network of destinations.

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