The blue, red and orange airplanes of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) are expected to arrive at Branson Airport during the first half of 2013.
Southwest spokeswoman Michelle Agnew said she couldn't confirm a specific date, but she said the Texas company is confident it will bring its red-bellied planes to Branson in the first half of 2013.
Southwest, which purchased Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI), parent company of AirTran Airways, in May,
announced in January it would begin converting AirTran Airways operations at Branson Airport and 21 other domestic and international airports to Southwest operations.
"I think we did not anticipate that the entire acquisition would take as long as it is taking," Agnew said, noting deadlines Southwest was hoping to meet have been pushed back. "We've been having to take each city really on an individual case-by-case basis, because each city in operation is so different. We could have never anticipated how different handling each city would be."
Agnew said Southwest has scheduled conversion dates for three airports: Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio, Aug. 12; Des Moines International Airport in Iowa, Sept. 30; and Key West International Airport in Florida, Nov. 4.
Southwest fares and other details concerning the Branson Airport likely will be announced later this year, Agnew said.
In the Springfield Business Journal story "
Branson Airport fails to meet forbearance gates," Executive Director Jeff Bourk said the airport is counting on projected increases in passengers and revenue brought on by Southwest's entrance into the market. The privately held Branson Airport has faced increasing financial losses - exceeding $30 million since 2010.
"It will make access to and from the region much better than it has ever been. There will be a lot more flying to and from the region, making access better than it's ever been for this part of the country," Bourk said this morning. He declined to comment on the financial state of the airport, but he said he expects enplanements, or the number of boarding passengers, to increase with the introduction of Southwest.
Enplanements for Branson Airport increased by roughly 20 percent in 2011 to 110,000, from 92,000 in 2010. In 2009, when the airport opened, Bourk estimated enplanements were 45,000. The airport projected 4,996 enplanements in January of this year, 4,600 passengers in February, and 6,288 passengers in March, and Bourk declined to project enplanement figures for April-June.
"Enplanements continue to grow. Certainly with this announcement, we expect that trend to continue," Bourk said, noting nonstop flights added by Southwest would add roughly 41,000 enplanements apiece annually.[[In-content Ad]]
