MOST of the staff at Bournemouth-based tour operator Palmair are facing redundancy following an announcement the company is scaling back its holiday operations.

It is understood that up to 28 staff could lose their jobs at the company, which has offered holidays from Bournemouth Airport since 1958.

However one source told the Daily Echo that out of 31 Palmair staff, only three are likely to remain in employment.

Meetings are believed to have taken place last week as part of the redundancy process, which will include cabin crew and the reservations team.

At the time of the announcement last month the company, which was established by the late Peter Bath in 1958, said they hoped to minimise any redundancies by absorbing some employees into the 400-strong workforce of parent company, Bath Travel.

But according to sources that is now not the case.

Managing director David Skillicorn said he did not wish to comment.

Palmair are no longer using their own aircraft, instead chartering seats with other carriers, as it did up until 1993, when it established its own airline.

It was only in May last year that the company unveiled its new Boeing 737-500 at a special ceremony at Bournemouth Airport.

But they handed it back to the leasing company last month, after agreeing an early termination of the contract.

Citing rising jet fuel costs, increased competition and a global downturn as the main reasons for the changes, the company said they were trying to protect themselves from going bust.

Passengers will travel on chartered seats on Thomson Airlines to just two destinations, Lanzarote and Tenerife, in February, March and April as part of a slimmed down programme this winter.

An announcement about their Summer 2011 programme will be made at the end of this year.

Stephen Bath, the joint managing director of Bath Travel said he had no comment to make on the situation at this time.

In 2008, Palmair was named one of the best airlines in the world in a poll by the Consumer Association magazine, Which?