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Service makes a mark in the air - 3 July 2008

A tiny airline operating one jet from Bournemouth airport has been named as the world’s third-best airline for overall experience and service levels, beating the likes of Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways in the process.

Palmair European, which carries just 70,000 passengers a year, came in joint third position with Air New Zealand and behind Jet Airways and Singapore
Airlines in the Which? poll in which 70 airlines were rated for the overall travelling experience and value for money.

Palmair employs around 50 staff, in contrast to the huge workforces of the multi-national and flag-carrying airlines, and has a number of unique features and habits that have clearly caught the imagination of the flying public. For example, instead of surly check-in staff, the airline has a member of staff who personally greets every single passenger at the airport and draws up the seating plan from her kitchen table the night before the flight. Forget an ugly bun-fight just to make sure your family sits in the same part of the aircraft, Palmair take care to make sure they keep passengers as happy as possible.

This even extends to the aircraft itself. The fleet may consist of one 34-year-old Boeing 737 that flies just twice a day in summer, but the airline has removed a row of seats to make more legroom. Flight attendants place fresh flowers on the plane daily, including in the toilets, and a team of caterers is employed at the airport base to make sure the hot meals served are changed regularly according to customer tastes.

The company was founded in 1957 by Peter Bath who, until 2006, made sure he was in the departure lounge for each flight to greet the passengers himself. He also went onto the tarmac to see each flight depart from Bournemouth, waving it off into the skies. When he passed away, the tradition was continued by long-standing airport rep Teresia Rossello, whose responsibility it is to draw up the seating plan each night in her kitchen, making sure the individual needs of the passengers are met.

Mr. Bath also decreed that his airline would never operate any night flights, as managing director David Skillicorn explains. “Mr. Bath never allowed flights to leave before 9am as he believed night flights were anti-social. When Mr. Bath founded Palmair, his belief was that if people were good enough to pay money to fly with him, the least he could do was greet each passenger.”

Mr. Skillicorn also said that he was flattered by the poll results as “all we can offer is tea and coffee”, rather than the endless choice of DVDs and on-board massages of the huge airline companies.

Palmair now flies to 14 European destinations including Spain, Croatia, Portugal and Corfu. In a world where bigger is often seen as better, and air travel is among the most de-personalised of experiences, this rewarding of good, sensible, personal service is richly deserved – long may it continue.

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