Courtesy Branson Lakes Area CVB
BRANSON, Mo. – Southwest Airlines recently announced plans to replace its subsidiary AirTran Airways’ flights to the Branson Airport with Southwest flights. The transition is part of Southwest Airlines intended conversion of 22 domestic and international airports from AirTran Airways into Southwest operations.
The transition does not yet have a timeline. As part of the conversion, AirTran started offering daily nonstop service from Branson to Chicago and Houston on April 16.
The arrival of Southwest Airlines will give the Branson airport economical access to several more cities than are currently available. AirTran will continue flights from Branson to Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Houston and Orlando throughout the transition.
“We are excited about the cities we have chosen to keep in our combined network,” said Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “We are committed to continuing to serve these communities at first via AirTran and eventually as Southwest.”
Flights at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will become the first to convert from AirTran to Southwest, starting August 12. Other confirmed future transitions with these airlines include Akron-Canton Airport; Dayton International Airport; Des Moines International Airport; Flint, Mich.; Rochester, N.Y.; Pensacola, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Richmond, Va. and many others.
Southwest Airlines will continue to make announcements over the next several years as plans for additional cities solidify. For more information, visit www.southwest.com and www.flybranson.com.
