Palmair European was a British tour operator with its head office in the Space House in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. Palmair offered charter and scheduled flights on behalf of Bath Travel. Its main base was

Bournemouth Airport Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil contr ...

. Palmair have now stopped any flights for the foreseeable future and the airline has been placed into a "deep freeze" until the economic climate improves. The company holds a

United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the statutory corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. Its areas of responsibility include: * Supervising the issuing of pilots' licences, testing of e ...

Air Travel Organiser's Licence (ATOL0003).

History

The first Palmair charter took place in 1958 with a single flight to Palma followed a year later with just 2 flights. Over the following years the number of flights increased and expanded to a range of destinations, chartering aircraft from a number of different airlines. In 1993 the company formed its own airline, Palmair Flightline, operating a BAe 146 aircraft. Upgraded aircraft were acquired in 1999 to reflect increased demand for capacity from Bournemouth and for the introduction of longer range routes. Until winter 1999 services was operated by Flightline, using a single BAe 146–300. In 2003 Palmair carried 75,000 passengers. In 2004 the company operated scheduled passenger flights to ten European airports, and day trips to 25 European cities. On 22 December 2006, founder, Peter Bath, who had previously seen off every flight personally, died, aged 79. In November 2008, European Aviation, which had been operating a

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

for Palmair, ceased trading meaning that the

was grounded. For winter 2008/2009, Palmair flights were operated by Jet2.com using a

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

. On 9 May 2009, Palmair resumed flights with a

Boeing 737-500 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

aircraft operated by

Astraeus In Greek mythology, Astraeus () or Astraios (Ancient Greek: Ἀστραῖος means "starry"') was an astrological deity. Some also associate him with the winds, as he is the father of the four Anemoi (wind deities), by his wife, Eos. Etymolo ...

. The airline continued using the plane until October 2010 when it left Bournemouth Airport for the last time. The original agreement between Palmair and Astraeus was for Palmair to use the plane up until April 2012, but due to unforeseen circumstances it had to be handed back to Astraeus. As a result, during the Winter and Summer of 2010, Thomson Airways operated Palmair's routes to Lanzarote and Tenerife (these were their only destinations at the time). Thomson continued to operate these routes until April 2011 when Palmair finally pulled the plug. Given the current climate Palmair has been forced to cease its entire operations starting from Summer 2011. Bosses stated that they won't be issuing any new schedules for the airline in the foreseeable future and that Palmair would be placed in a deep freeze, at least until the climate improves. The contributing factors to the downfall of Palmair was said to have been increasing competition from various low cost airlines using Bournemouth airport, rising fuel prices and the recession. Previous managing director David Skillicorn was featured in an interview with local newspaper "The Daily Echo" in which he talked about his time while working at the company before leaving, in which his famous final words were "Never say never".

Awards

2003

The UK consumer magazine '' Holiday Which?'' published the results of a survey of 20,000 UK air passengers, showing that Palmair was the top rated airline flying from the UK.

2008

Palmair was mentioned on

BBC World BBC World News is an International broadcasting, international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a State-owned enterprise, public corporation of the Governme ...

's ''

Fast Track The fast track is an informal English term meaning "the quickest and most direct route to achievement of a goal, as in competing for professional advancement". By definition, it implies that a less direct, slower route also exists. Fast track or F ...

'' on 26 June 2008, as one of the top four airlines in the world in the British '' Which?'' magazine consumer survey. In the short haul airline category Palmair was picked as the best. Palmair tied with

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...

for third in the 70,000 consumer opinion responses comparing 70 worldwide airlines. David Skillicorn, managing director of Palmair, said he was delighted. He said, "We are just little Palmair with a little

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

yet we beat the likes of

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and ...

and

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporat ...

has 100 planes including the A380 which is the largest plane in service, on-board massages and a choice of DVDs. All we can offer is the choice of tea or coffee – that is why I feel so flattered. Coming joint third in this poll is such an amazing achievement."

Livery

With the airline beginning their own scheduled service operated by an

, the airline revealed a new livery at a ceremony in a hangar at

. Over 300 people turned up to the unveiling of the new livery and aircraft that has been named ''The Spirit of Peter Bath'' (the founder of Palmair). The new livery features larger tiles across the fuselage saying 'PALMAIR' and on the tail, the

Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

and the airlines new website tiles, 'flypalmair.co.uk'.

Destinations

Fleet

A Boeing 737-500 operated in Palmair livery was returned to the leasing company (Astraeus Airlines).

References

External links

Official Website (Holiday Packages)Official Website (Flights)
{{Airlines of the United Kingdom Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Bournemouth Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom