BOSSES at Jack Walker's airline were today keeping tight lipped over speculation it could be ready to step in to save a stricken rival.

Hundreds of passengers were left without flights when Debonair Airways crashed into the hands of administrators last week.

There has been speculation in the city that Jersey European Airways could be in the running to buy part of the business although the administrators stressed there were a number of possible suitors.

"There are a number of parties interested in exploring with us the possibility or resurrecting the remaining business," said Nick Dargan of accountants Deloitte & Touche.

A spokesman for Jersey European Airways said the firm was always looking for opportunities to expand its business but that there was no firm proposal with regard to Debonair.

Meanwhile plans are still on the table for a stock market flotation of JEA - which will net another fortune for chairman and Blackburn Rovers owner Jack Walker.

The airline was due to go public last summer but a collapse in the stock market led to it being shelved.

Now the market has recovered bosses are again looking at a flotation which could value the firm at as much as £100 million.

Only three years ago the airline was valued at £40 million when the Sunday Times list of UK's richest people estimated Jack's fortune at £500 million. The airline, which was taken over 16 years ago, has grown to be one of the biggest in the UK with a fleet of 22 aircraft carrying more than 1.5 million passengers a year.

The airline was launched in 1979 and in 1983 was taken over by the Walkersteel Group, which already owned Blackpool-based charter airline Spacegrand, in a seven figure deal. The two airlines ran separately for a time until they were combined within the Walker Aviation group in 1985.

JEA flies to 15 UK and four European destinations and profits before tax for the 1996/97 financial year were £3.4 million on a turnover of almost £95 million.

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