Airline Name
Palmair
Operated under 3 different codes with 3 different airlines over its time,
IATA: B5/E7/5W ICAO: FLT/EAL/AEU / Callsign: FLIGHTLINE/EUROCHARTER/FLY STAR
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Aircraft Types Used (from those available in WoA)
B463 (BAe 146-300) (1 operated, leased 1993-1999 from Flightline),B732 (737-200) (3 operated, leased from European Aircharter between 2002 and 2008, both pictures from 2008),
B735 (737-500) (1 operated, leased from Astraeus),
Why should this airline be added?
Palmair was founded in 1993 as the airline arm of Bath Travel, a tour company based in Bournemouth founded in 1958 and operating charter flights since then, in the same vain as a lot of airlines appeared in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s to represent their respective travel agents like Britannia, Ambassador, Airtours, Air Europe (Its collapse in 1991 led to lots of these being founded), First Choice, Flying Colours, JMC and others.The BAe leased from Flightline flew from 1993 until 1999 when the relationship ended between the two companies as Palmair needed larger capacity aircraft. During the 1990’s, the airline operated a special Concorde flight for 100 people from Bournemouth, which flew out over the Atlantic before returning, plus another 100 who took a coach to Heathrow for a 20 minute flight on one for a 1/3 of the price. It also had its first Transatlantic flight from Bournemouth, utilising a Leisure International 767-300 to Disneyland. In 2002, after a couple of years of utilising other charter carriers, the airline struck up a deal with European Aircharter so as to operate its own flights on its terms. From then until November 2008, the airline connected Bournemouth and other UK origin airports like Manchester and Gatwick (Though these were much rarer, it was very much a Bournemouth based operation) to destinations in Spain, Portugal, Italy and crucially, the Balearics and Canaries where they were frequently seen in Tenerife and Lanzarote. However, European Aircharter collapsed in 2008 and the relationship ended so for the winter of 2008/9, the airline utilised a Jet2 737-300 until it set up a relationship with Astraeus to use one of their 737-500’s until April 2012 and so Palmair took to the sky again in their branding, however, the relationship ended in October 2010 due to unforeseen issues on Astraeus’ end. Over the winter and summer of 2010/11, the airline utilised Thomson’s fleet based at Bournemouth for flights to Tenerife and Lanzarote but sadly, due to the heightened costs of the industry, Palmair was frozen indefinitely and then in 2013, the parent Bath Travel was sold to Hays Travel with the name disappearing by 2015.
I think this airline should be added as it’s a small British tour operator with a unique fleet but the real seller is that Peter Bath, the chap who brought his fathers single shop travel agency in Bournemouth to being one of the South’s leading travel companies, personally waved off every Palmair flight that left Bournemouth Airport until his death aged 79 in December 2006, something that I think is very unique in the industry. Plus, a 737-200 and 737-500 operating airline for the UK would be a great addition for player airports across Europe, especially for a future airport in Spain or the Canaries.