On 25 April 2005, the airline officially changed its name from SkyLink Airways to MAXjet Airways following a formal objection to the original name from SkyLink Aviation in Canada. On 23 August 2005 it was granted final approval to launch services by the United States Department of Transportation. The airline was publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market as "MAXJ". It operated its first service from New York to London on 1 November 2005. Founded in 2003, the airline was conceived as a transatlantic low-cost carrier that would code share with domestic low-cost carriers at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. During its start-up phase, management expressed concern over the economics of applying the low cost carrier model to transatlantic routes and instead repositioned the airline as a premium all-business-class service. MAXjet's target market was premium economy and "savvy" business class passengers.