Southwest Airlines Expands Service in Branson

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, January 24, 2012

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES EXPANDS SERVICE IN BRANSON
AirTran Airways, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines, announced today daily nonstop service from Branson to Chicago and Houston

BRANSON, MISSOURI (January 24, 2012) – AirTran Airways, which will be converted to Southwest Airlines over time, will begin daily nonstop service from Branson to Chicago and Houston starting April 16, 2012.

Chicago and Houston are major Southwest markets with connecting service to many great destinations. While the airlines’ networks are not connected at this point, both carriers are working together to publish the best flight schedules to places customers want to go. When the networks are connected, people traveling to and from these areas will have access to many more cities.

“These new daily flights to Chicago and Houston are very exciting because Chicago and Houston are large visitation markets for Branson” stated Executive Director, Jeff Bourk. “Ultimately, these routes will tie into the Southwest network, giving passengers many more low cost choices to get where our passengers want to go.”
On Friday, Southwest Airlines committed to serve Branson, Missouri. Southwest Airlines made the decision to serve Branson, Missouri and to convert AirTran Airways at Branson to Southwest Airlines operations over time.
“We are committed to continuing to serve these communities—at first via AirTran, and eventually as Southwest. We know there are Southwest Customers who want access to these cities, but have never before had the opportunity, and the markets have long desired Southwest service,” said Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer and AirTran Airways President Bob Jordan. “We are excited about the cities we have chosen to keep in our combined network.”

For a complete list of destinations available at the Branson Airport, visit www.FlyBranson.com.

About Branson Airport: Opening its doors May of 2009, Branson Airport LLC is the first privately developed and operated commercial service airport in the United States. Currently serviced by Southwest Airlines/AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines. Located in the heart of the Ozarks and centrally located in the Midwest, the airport also boasts a state of the art FBO, Branson JetCenter and a full service travel agency, FlyBranson Travel. The Airport offers low cost service to over 100 destinations. For more information visit www.FlyBranson.com or call toll free 1-888-FLY-BKG1 (1-888-359-2541).