The oldest tour operator in Britain

A BEA Viking aircraft with just 36 seats was the first ever Palmair charter flight from Hurn airport.

Chairman Peter Bath was awarded an MBE in the 2005 new years honours for services to travel and charity.

Peter Bath on one of his early visits to Magaluf Beach, Majorca around 1960. The Atlantic Hotel was the only hotel on the beach. There would now be 30 or more in the photo above.

Our own airline Palmair Flightline was formed in 1993 and the BAe 146 'Whisper Jet

In May 2009 Palmair took delivery of its new Boeing 737-500 aircraft of which is named after the companys founder: ‘The Spirit Of Peter Bath’

In the world of tour operators Palmair holds a special position. An early pioneer in opening the Balearic Islands to the British, Palmair, the oldest air tour operator in Britain, with ATOL licence number 3, has given 52 years of service to its passengers.

This is the story so far...

1950s

Palmair was formed and operated its first holiday flight to Majorca from Hurn Airport in 1958. The charter happened almost by accident. Ray Barker, Managing Director of Lunns Kingsflights was on the point of cancelling a two week holiday from Gatwick to the Hotel Bristol in San Agustin through lack of support. Peter Bath, a good friend, persuaded him to operate the flight from Bournemouth and pledged Bath Travel would fill the 36-seat Viking aircraft. With misgivings, Ray agreed. The following Tuesday the holidays were advertised in the Bournemouth Echo and by Saturday, all the seats were sold. The Palmair tour operation was born. The following year a 62-seat BEA Vickers Viscount was chartered for two departure dates to Majorca in October. Licenses had to be obtained, hotels contracted and a small brochure printed under the name Bath Travel's Palmair Holidays.

1960s

Palmair began to grow in earnest. By 1961, the much larger BEA Vanguard was introduced and winter flights to Majorca offered for the first time. Malaga was introduced in 1962 with the Costa Blanca following in 1963. Palmair entered the jet age in 1965 using the BAC One-Eleven for fortnightly flights to Majorca with a flying time of just under two hours. In honour of the speed of this new aircraft Palmair was renamed Palmair Express and it was decided to offer holidays to Majorca from Southampton as well as Bournemouth. In 1967 a total of 3,000 passengers flew from those two airports in 1-11, Viscount and Comet aircraft to Majorca and Ibiza.
A year-round service began in 1968. By 1969, Palmair began operating to Tenerife in the winter months, a service still operating today. For several years, Palmair passengers enjoyed the unique experience of walking to their plane on seven yards of red carpet, provided by the company to ensure they went off in style!

1970s

In 1974 Bath Travel celebrated its Golden Jubilee and for the first time that year, Palmair offered holidays to the Greek island of Corfu and to Nice on the French Riviera. Minorca was added to the growing programme in 1975 and Switzerland in 1979. By now, Peter Bath’s habit of seeing every flight off personally had become part of the Palmair legend. Airlines that flew for Palmair in the 70’s included British Caledonian, British United Airways and Dan-Air.

1980s

Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia (now Croatia) was featured from 1980 and the Algarve two years later. The Slovenian resorts of Lake Bled and Portoroz also featured from 1988 until services were no longer possible because of the Balkans conflict from 1991 onwards. Airlines that flew for Palmair in the eighties included Air Europa, Futera, Dan Air, Air Cymru, Inter European and Princess Air.

1990s

During all the years of operating flights from Bournemouth, Palmair had chartered aircraft from a host of airlines. None was based in Bournemouth and each year it became increasingly difficult to persuade airlines to position empty aircraft from their home bases to Bournemouth. So in 1993 the company formed its own airline, Palmair Flightline. It operated the very popular BAe 146 Whisper Jet, which gave its name to our in-flight magazine. In its first three years of operation, the Whisper Jet, quiet and comfortable, flew to 70 different destinations. In 1996 Palmair operated its first Air Cruise through Europe to Egypt and towards the end of the decade, our day trip programme began to develop a life of its own. It had all started in a small way with trips to Quimper and Chambery in North West France in 1994. In 1997 the Which? report on airlines polled over 20,000 consumers who voted Palmair Flightline the fifth most popular airline in the world, but most importantly the most popular British airline. An avalanche of publicity followed with local TV and nearly all the national papers covering the story of Britains smallest jet airline. In 1999 Palmair dropped the BAe 146 Whisper Jet in favour of the Boeing 737 which offered more capacity and longer range. Palmair European was formed.

2000s

Readers of the Consumer Association magazine Which? Voted Palmair not just number one in Britain, but number one in the world in its 2003 survey of international carriers. The day trip programme offered more destinations than ever and became a phenomenal success, with around 6,000 people a year flying with Palmair for a day out with a difference – including as far afield as Cairo and Luxor. There were now more destinations available for day trips from Bournemouth than any other airport in Britain. In 2004, Bath Travel celebrated its eightieth birthday. In 2005, Palmair chairman Peter Bath was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours for services to travel and charity. New destinations included Luxor, Cyprus, Dubrovnik, Malta, Lake Garda, Sorrento and Tunisia.

In May 2009 Palmair found a new airline together with Astraeus Airlines, taking delivery of a more modern Boeing 737-500 series aircraft offering more range and quieter, cleaner engines, avoiding the need for an occasional fuel stop on the more southerly destinations like Lanzarote, Tenerife and Fuerteventura.

The plane also bears the distinctive registration number G-PJPJ to reflect Peter ‘PJ’ Bath's nickname among his 400 staff and many passengers.