Low ticket sales ground Branson Airport flight

A group of seven recently announced destinations for Branson Airport has brought low ticket sales, with nearly 2 percent occupancy on the low end and nearly 12 percent on the high end. A partnership for flights between Branson and Terre Haute, Ind., has been grounded as a result.

Flights to Terre Haute Feb. 23–March 31 had 65 tickets sold out of a possible 3,900 openings, or a 1.67 percent occupancy rate.

“There were no bookings,” said Jeff Bourk, Branson Airport executive director. “That’s the primary reason why we canceled it. The bookings were not good enough.”

The agreement, through a public-charter flight service, was announced in February with five airports: Austin and Houston, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; Shreveport, La.; and Terre Haute. Nonstop service from Branson to the remaining four will begin May 17 under the name Branson AirExpress through a partnership with ExpressJet Airlines Inc. Public-charter flights via AirExpress to Nashville, Tenn., and Biloxi/Gulfport, Miss., also are set to begin May 17.

Flights are scheduled five days a week to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, William P. Hobby Airport in Houston and Des Moines International Airport, as well as three days a week to Shreveport Regional Airport.

Revisions rejected
Under the terms of the partnership signed Feb. 19, the Branson and Terre Haute airports would have shared expenses and revenues equally, but Bourk notified officials with Terre Haute International Airport of the decision to cancel the deal April 5, said Terre Haute International Airport Director Dennis Wiss.

Bourk asked the Terre Haute airport board to approve changes to the initial agreement, namely asking Terre Haute to accept all flight costs – approximately $285,000 – and said Branson would lower its contribution to $20,000, Wiss said.

The airport board rejected the revisions, Wiss said, adding that his board offered to continue the partnership under the original terms. Bourk rejected the offer.

Ticket sales as of March 31 for the other four markets were not much higher than in Terre Haute. The airport with the most sales was Austin, Texas, with 739 of 6,500 seats, or 11.4 percent booked.

“We’re happy with the other bookings,” Bourk said. “They continue to grow and expand. They were always much better than Terre Haute.”

Wiss doesn’t think his airport got a fair deal.

“The numbers that we got for our city plus the other four – Des Moines, Houston, Austin, Shreveport – they’re all low,” Wiss said. “Let’s carry it one step further. They announced service to Nashville and Gulfport/Biloxi on Monday, April 5, with service Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and they canceled our service on Tuesday, which by the way, ran Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Coincidental?”

Bourk refused to comment specifically on the apparently low ticket sales, saying only that Branson airport officials are very excited about AirExpress flights to the remaining six nonstop destianations.

As it nears its one-year anniversary May 11, Branson Airport offers services to 10 destinations.

Officials from Frontier Airlines were in Branson on April 27 to usher in the airline’s first flight into Branson Airport. Frontier offers nonstop service to and from Denver International Airport four times a week, and officials say passengers will be able to connect directly to 50 additional destinations from Denver.

The Denver service joins AirTran’s direct service to and from Atlanta and Orlando, Fla.
While flights between Branson and Minneapolis via Sun Country were grounded last fall, SBJ reported in December that those flights are expected to resume this spring.

Still in place
Roy Criss, air services and public relations manager for the Des Moines airport, and Jason Zielinski, public information specialist with Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, each said Branson flights are set to begin in May at their respective airports.

Both officials said ticket sales are only tracked by Branson, therefore they did not have access to the numbers.

Wiss said the Des Moines airport, while not putting up money, “is giving Branson incentives – no landing fees, free gate rental, kind of a free ride. They’re saying if you want to come into our city that’s fine, but it’s on your nickel. Des Moines didn’t have any money in it.”

Criss said the difference between his airport and Terre Haute is how they are governed. Terre Haute, Criss said, is run by a board or commission and Des Moines is owned by the city.

He said the difference means “wider latitude” in how business can be conducted by a board-governed airport.

“The only thing we could do would be to make an incentive plan available to them,” Criss said.[[In-content Ad]]