Yesterday, AirTran announced that it would begin Saturday-only service between Branson, Missouri and Orlando, beginning December 19.
AirTran was the first carrier to serve Branson, the first privately- operated commercial airport here in the U.S. At one time the carrier served both Milwaukee and Atlanta, but the former has been dropped, and that makes sense. After working some DOT numbers, in June, the latest month for which data is available, Atlanta flights had a load factor of 78.5%, while the Milwaukee flying had a mere 41.4%.
Sun Country is the other carrier at the airport, and has had some good load factors on its flights to Dallas and Minneapolis – 78.5% and 70.7%, respectively.
Branson has been interesting to watch, and I hope it succeeds. Because the airport is private, it can be more flexible in offering incentives to airlines, so I wonder if they’ll be able to get any other carriers in there. The market is relatively small, but I’m sure the airport would appreciate a link to a major airline’s hub with some regional service.
Photo Credit:
0 Responses to “AirTran Will Give Branson-Orlando a Whirl”
Leave a Reply