The signs of financial distress disclosed on Friday by Maxjet, one of the pioneering new breed of business class only airlines, highlight the risks facing most new business models in a sector notorious for destroying capital.

The record of the airline sector of transforming large fortunes into small fortunes has seldom deterred the endless stream of hopefuls attracted by the industry’s questionable glamour, however, and air travellers are being wooed by a growing array of offerings, as the sector fragments both in commercial and private aviation.