Group obtains funding to begin building Branson airport

BRANSON, Mo. -- Travelers will be able to fly directly to this Ozark tourist town in a couple years after backers of a new airport arranged $113 million in revenue bonds to pay for the project.

Crews will begin building the Branson Regional Airport after the June 28 closing. The project is scheduled to be finished in May 2009, Steve Peet, president of Branson Airport LLC, said Friday in a news release announcing that Citigroup has underwritten the bonds for the airport.

The new airport, which will be eight miles south of Branson, will be designed to handle commercial flights. The airport will provide a more direct route for the 8 million people who visit Branson each year. Currently, commercial air travelers must fly into Springfield-Branson National Airport, which is about 52 miles to the north of Branson.

Peet said in the news release that airport officials are in discussion with several airlines about serving the Branson area.

Susan Wade, spokeswoman for the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, said it concerns her that some tourists will bypass Springfield when the Branson Regional Airport is operating with commercial flights.

A May 2006 survey at the Springfield-Branson National Airport showed 24 percent of departing passengers who aren't from southwest Missouri stayed at least one night in the Branson area. But that figure was as high as 77 percent in May 2005.

Taney County officials are enthusiastic about the new airstrip, which has been in the planning stage for at least five years. The county will own the airport but lease it back to the Branson Regional Airport Transportation Development District. The airport will be privately developed and operated.

One key to the airport's financing was a pay-for-performance contract, through which the city will pay $8.24 for each arriving visitor with an annual cap of $2 million and a term of 30 years.

Branson Airport LLC expects to retire the bonds with revenues generated by the airport, such as landing fees and rents from car-rental agencies.