UPDATE 1-Silverjet CEO defends strategy after MAXjet failure

(Adds CEO, broker quotes, shares)

By Pete Harrison

LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - British business class-only airline Silverjet SILJ.L defended its strategy on Tuesday after one of its peers collapsed last month and a brokerage said it too was "doomed to fail".

Silverjet Chief Executive Lawrence Hunt told Reuters the airline just had a record week of U.S. bookings and was nearing its target of charging 1,100 pounds ($2,157) per seat.

Rival MAXjet MAXJ.L filed for bankruptcy protection after traditional airlines like British Airways (BAY.L) competed more fiercely than expected last year and weakness in the U.S. economy kept business travellers at home.

On top of that, fuel costs rose dramatically, and unexpected flight cancellations created costly problems of rebooking passengers onto other airlines.

But Hunt said weakness in the U.S. economy might be helping Silverjet by forcing corporations to look for cheaper alternatives to traditional business-class travel.

"We had a record sales week last week in the U.S.," he said. "We've seen a massive increase in corporate enquiries by companies looking to cut costs."

Hunt said Silverjet would succeed where MAXjet had failed because it gave better service and had managed to put up prices when fuel costs rose, while MAXjet had kept them low to try and compete for customers.