The new Branson Airport is getting closer and closer to completion! Scheduled to open in the spring of 2009, it is claimed that the airport is ahead of schedule. McAninch Construction is the company that was chosen for this project. McAninch was responsible for bringing low-cost airlines to Portland, Maine and previous work in airport upgrades and construction with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Millions of cubic yards of earth have been moved, flattened and relocated. I have read where the access road alone cost $10million to “hack” out of the Missouri wilderness (this includes construction of two 400-foot-long, 80-foot-high bridges). It is projected that the new Branson Airport expects the airport to see 275,000 enplanements in its first year, landing aircraft potentially the size of 767s. That is a pretty large aircraft!

It has been said that the new airport not only means more tourists, it means a whole new class of tourist. The airport will create new jobs, tax revenues, better wages, higher land and home prices, and lower air fares! This will be a boon to us locals: we will no longer have to travel to Springfield, Joplin, St. Louis, or Fayetteville, Arkansas for air travel! Couple that with projected lower fares, and it will be a real treat!

With the new Branson Convention Center and Branson Landing now open and thriving, corporate investors will be seeking a new region for business and corporate retreats.
One of the facts I find most interesting is this airport is the first private commercial airport in the country! Wow!