RUMOURS of the imminent sale of Bournemouth Airport are good news for its future, according to former travel boss Stephen Bath.

Last month it was revealed that Sir Peter Rigby, chairman of regional airport operator Rigby Group PLC and one of the UK’s richest men, made several visits to the Hurn site.

It was suggested staff would be told about a sale yesterday morning, although the Echo was later told this meeting had been delayed.

Mr Bath, former boss of Bath Travel, whose father Peter’s firm Palmair operated from Bournemouth Airport for half a century, said Manchester Airports Group's (MAG) tenure since taking over the airport in 2001 had been “a disastrous spiral”.

He said the firm had relied too much on Ryanair to provide flights, spent too much money on a new terminal in the mistaken belief that it would entice more passengers, and started charging £2.50 for cars dropping off passengers - “without a shadow of a doubt the most disastrous PR decision of any airport in Britain”.

“My father said people fly from Bournemouth Airport because the parking is cheap and they can get home in 20 minutes,” he said.

“They lost Palmair and got a new terminal that didn’t make an iota of difference to passenger numbers, which people have to pay £2.50 to see, which is a lot of clunking in the machine and people hate it.

“If they hadn’t built the terminal they wouldn’t have had to charge extra. It was a disastrous spiral.”

In 2009 MAG spent almost £50 million on the new terminal, as well as an improved runway, radar, navigation and road access. Passenger numbers peaked at just over a million in 2007 and stood at 667,981 last year.

Mr Bath said he felt “bitter” about the end of his father’s firm, just weeks after the new terminal was finished. He said MAG had handed Palmair’s flight data to Ryanair to demonstrate the viability of the airport, causing the aviation giant to put identical routes in place.

“In the winter that year, when Palmair normally operated four or five flights, Ryanair decided they weren’t going to do anything,” he said. “Bournemouth went down to two flights a week. It was a disaster, the place was a ghost town.”

Both MAG and Rigby Group declined to comment.

Rigby Group’s division Regional & City airports owns Blackpool, City of Derry, Coventry, Exeter, Norwich and Solent airports.

The company says its vision is to “help smaller regional airports to prosper through effective management and collaboration”.

Stephen Bath told the Echo he was confident Sir Peter Rigby would buy the airport, and that he could turn its fortunes around.

“He knows about airports, he runs his own air ambulance service, he looks like an aviation man to me,” he said.

“Rigby Group don’t have a track record of closing airports and building houses which is really important. Bournemouth Airport is 595 acres which would be worth a fortune as building land.”

It is not known whether there are other potential buyers.

Rigby's airport empire

RIGBY Group’s division Regional & City airports owns Blackpool, City of Derry, Coventry, Exeter, Norwich and Solent airports.

The company says its vision is to “help smaller regional airports to prosper through effective management and collaboration”.

Stephen Bath told the Echo he was confident Sir Peter Rigby would buy the airport, with an announcement possibly next week, and that the aviation tycoon could turn its fortunes around.

“He knows about airports, he runs his own air ambulance service, he looks like an aviation man to me,” he said.

“Rigby Group don’t have a track record of closing airports and building houses which is really important. Bournemouth Airport is 595 acres which would be worth a fortune as building land.”

It is not known whether there are other potential buyers.