Officials break ground for $140M Branson Airport

The $140 million, single-terminal regional airport, located off of U.S. Highway 65 south of Hollister, is expected to begin running commercial flights by May 2009.

“This is the culmination of a whole lot of work,” Branson Airport CEO Steve Peet said during the ceremony. “Since 2000, we’ve been working closely with the city of Branson, the city of Hollister, Taney County and the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce. We all see the benefits in the years to come.”

Perhaps the most widespread benefit, Peet said, is the statistic that travelers who fly to their destinations spend 40 percent more money than those who drive. Approximately 8 million people visit Branson each year, city officials say.

“This is going to benefit more than the visitors,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of accessory business.”

Glenn Patch, who owns the more than 7,000 acres where the airport is under construction and is a partner through his development company, GEP Inc., projects 10,000 to 15,000 people coming through the airport each week. The terminal would accommodate up to 750,000 enplanements annually, officials have said.

“If Branson is ever going to progress, we’re going to have to get the air traffic,” said Patch.

Patch purchased the land 17 years ago and it now includes the Branson Creek residential community, Branson Creek Golf Course and John Daly’s Murder Rock Golf Club at Branson Creek.

Bond financing

Peet said the airport is financed through $26 million in equity and $113 million in bonds. The airport actually received offers for $495 million in orders for the bonds, which Peet has interpreted as a vote of confidence from investors. The closing on the bonds, underwritten by Citigroup with a 30-year maturity, was June 28.

Branson mayor Raeanne Presley said the city has agreed to a pay-for-performance contract with the airport when it’s operational. The city will pay Branson Airport $8.24 for each arriving visitor with an annual cap of $2 million and a term of 30 years.

According to Peet, Branson Airport would be the first privately owned and operated commercial airport in the United States. He said the 7,140-foot runway would accommodate commercial jets the sizes of 727s and 737s.

“We can handle all the narrow-body jets. We cannot handle superjumbo jets like 747s,” he said. “We see it as an airport serving more of a destination than an origination.”

Other companies involved in the project include Aviations Facilities Co. of McLean, Va., which has overall development responsibilities, Burns & McDonnell of Kansas City as the designer, and McAninch Corp. of Des Moines, Iowa, as the construction contractor.

Branson Airport has yet to sign any airlines, and company officials haven’t speculated as to what carriers they are seeking.

Springfield-Branson National Airport, about 50 miles to the north, is the closest commercial airport.

Kent Boyd, public information and marketing manager for Springfield-Branson National Airport, said Branson Airport has challenges to face including attracting flyers and airline services.

“The number of people flying into this (Springfield) airport for the purpose of going to Branson is not large,” he said. “We don’t know how many people, but it is not big.”

The Springfield airport sees more than 800,000 travelers coming through its terminal a year.

The Federal Aviation Administration ranked Springfield-Branson National Airport 129th last year in the number of departing passengers. About half of the top 130 airports experienced a decline in the number of passengers departing from their terminals. The Springfield airport was one of them, declining by 1.41 percent in departing passengers in 2006 compared to 2005. Boyd said such numbers show the volatility of the current airline business climate. Trying to get airlines to expand service right now, he said, “is a tough nut to crack. We wish (Branson Airport) well. They have a real battle ahead of them to get what they want.”[[In-content Ad]]