Southwest to Launch Non-stop Branson Flights

Southwest Airlines will add nonstop daily service to one city but drop direct flights to another when it begins flying from Missouri’s Branson Airport next year.

Southwest announced Monday that it will take over the Branson operations of its AirTran subsidiary in March 2013.

KYTV reports ( http://bit.ly/OnOeYk) that Southwest will drop daily nonstop service between Branson and Baltimore while adding one direct daily flight to Love Field in Dallas. Nonstop daily service to Chicago Midway and Houston Hobby will continue, and a Saturday-only direct flight between Branson and Orlando is being added.

The 3-year-old Branson Airport is private owned. Southwest Airlines vice president Bob Montgomery says the company also considered service to and from the larger Springfield-Branson National Airport in Springfield, but found the numbers didn’t add up.