Ryanair Blamed for Demise of Palmair
Local travel firm Bath Travel complained of being "swamped" by cheap fares carrier Ryanair this week, following its decision to scrap its tour operator and airline Palmair, which operates from Bournemouth Airport.
Palmair has been in business for 52 years, leading some regional travel agents to criticise airport bosses – claiming that Bournemouth had been too eager to give Ryanair favourable terms at the expense of Bath Travel's tour operation. Palmair was at one time the only carrier keeping the hub in business.
Bath Travel joint managing director Stephen Bath said that he would be scrapping Palmair for good in April, following Ryanair's announcement that it will be operating cheap flights to Europe on 29 routes from Bournemouth, starting in the summer.
Before this announcement, Bath Travel was hoping to keep operating Palmair by buying up seats on Thomson Airways flights. Its own aircraft were returned to the leasing company the previous autumn.
Mr Bath said that Ryanair's massive financial clout combined with the effects of the economic downturn had made it impossible to compete.
"You cannot expect Ryanair to come in paying nothing and not damage the incumbent operator that has kept the airport open for years," he complained. "We were the only operator at Bournemouth at one point. If it was not for us the airport would have been closed and sold as an industrial estate."
For its part, a Bournemouth Airport spokeswoman said that it regretted Palmair's passing, it was proud to have been associated with it, and that the operator had been an important presence at the hub for half a century.
Travel Industry News posted by 
on 14 January 2011
