Southwest Missouri News--Point Lookout

by Carol Harris

Beginning May 15, daily commercial flights on a Dornier 328, a 32-seat jet turbo-prop aircraft of Aspen Mountain Air, will fly from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to the M. Graham Clark Airport at Point Lookout.

Service will be offered through Country Tours and its general partner, SunWestern Management Inc., of Dallas, Texas. SunWestern is also a general partner of Ozark Mountain Management Group, which owns and manages the rights to commercial air service at the airport.

The airport is built on land leased from the College of the Ozarks. American Port Services Inc., a worldwide airport management firm, will perform all commercial flight-service operations.

According to Country Tours, there will be one round-trip flight per day with two additional flights per day added by the July 4 weekend. There are also plans to add service from other cities by mid-summer.

Country Tours will offer the direct, non-stop flight service as a part of its tour packages, along with rental cars from Avis, hotel accommodations, theater tickets, golf outings and other options. Individuals can also make flight reservations.

In a news release, John Greer, CEO of SunWestern Management Inc., stated, "We have been working with officials from the city of Branson and from the College of the Ozarks for more than two years to make direct scheduled commercial flight service to Branson a reality. Over time, we want to have commercial aircraft arriving every hour."