FlyBranson Travel, LLC, branded as Branson Air Express, is a defunct air travel marketing brand, based at

Branson Airport Branson Airport is a public use airport located eight nautical miles (15 km) south-southeast of the central business district of Branson, a city in Taney County, Missouri, United States. Branson Airport, LLC is a private company operati ...

near

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, Missouri, Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County, Missouri, Stone County. Branson is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountain ...

. Branson AirExpress used the air carrier services of DOT and FAA certificated airlines such as

Elite Airways Elite Airways was an airline based in the United States that operated charter and scheduled passenger flights. The airline was headquartered in Portland, Maine. History Elite Airways LLC was founded in 2006 and received FAA Part 121 scheduled ...

and

Southern Airways Express Southern Airways Express is a commuter airline operating across the United States with headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida. Southern Airways Express, commonly referred to as 'Southern', acts as a local service airline for dozens of cities across ...

but does not have any aircraft upon its own air carrier operating certificate. This practice was much like that of Southern Skyways or

Direct Air Southern Sky Air Tours, d/b/a Direct Air was an airline business based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States. Direct Air started in 2007 and leased aircraft with charter airlines. Its main base was Myrtle Beach International Airport. Direc ...

. It commenced operations in the fall of 2009. From that date until October 31, 2010, flights were operated by

ExpressJet Airlines ExpressJet Airlines was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1987 until 2022. It was headquartered in College Park, Georgia. The company began as Britt Airways and flew exclusively as Continental Express, the contracted ...

utilizing two

Embraer EMB-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ 135 (37 passengers), ERJ 140 (44 passengers), and ERJ 145 (50 passen ...

regional jet A regional jet (RJ) is a jet airliner, jet-powered regional airliner usually defined by having fewer than 100 seats. The first aircraft considered part of this category was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by Douglas DC-9, BAC O ...

s. Beginning on November 1 all flights began to be operated by

Vision Airlines Vision Airlines, formerly Vision Air, was an airline that had its operations headquartered in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline also operated charter flights for their tour services in northern Arizona and Nevada including the Grand Canyon, Ma ...

using two

Dornier 328 The Dornier 328 is a turboprop-powered commuter airliner. Initially produced by Germany company Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH, the firm was acquired in 1996 by US firm Fairchild Aircraft. The resulting firm, named Fairchild-Dornier, manufactured the ...

turboprops. For 2011, the scaled back service was operated by a single

Corporate Flight Management Corporate Flight Management, Inc., doing business as Contour Aviation, is a multifaceted aviation services company based in Smyrna, Tennessee, United States. It started operations in 1982 as an on-demand charter service for passengers and freight ...

BAe Jetstream 41 The British Aerospace Jetstream 41 is a turboprop-powered feederliner and regional airliner, designed by British Aerospace as a stretched version of the British Aerospace Jetstream, Jetstream 31. Intended to compete directly with 30-seat aircr ...

. All 2012 service ended for the Autumn and winter and it did not resume in 2013. With the exit of

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...

from Branson, the concept was revived with a new name,

Buzz Airways Buzz Airways was a virtual passenger airline that operated from 2014 to 2017 out of Branson Airport in Branson, Missouri, United States. It commenced operations on June 12, 2014, utilizing Jetstream 41 aircraft, and flights were operated as pub ...

, through the summer of 2014. In November and December, 2014 service under the Branson Air Express name transitioned to

larger

Bombardier CRJ-200 The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 (previously Canadair CRJ100 and CRJ200) are regional jets designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace between 1991 and 2006, the first of the Bombardier CRJ family. The ''Canadair Regional Jet'' (CRJ) pro ...

jet aircraft. Branson Air Express and Buzz Airways operated side-by-side during the summer of 2015, with CFM/Buzz Airways serving Chicago and Austin and Elite Airways operating Branson Air Express service to Denver and Houston. Additionally, on January 28, 2015, Branson AirExpress announced service operated by

Orange Air Orange Air, LLC was an American charter airline that began service in 2014. It was based at Orlando Sanford International Airport and was headquartered on the grounds of the airport, through its short time in operation. History Orange Air began o ...

to begin in May 2015 From Branson to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Flights to New Orleans continued on to

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

. This was Branson Air Express' first large jet service, utilizing a

McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...

. Orange Air ceased operating for Branson Air Express on October 5, 2015 - the Cincinnati-Branson route was dropped and Branson-New Orleans-Cancún transferred to Elite Airways and operated through November 29 before ending for the season. 2016 service consisted only of Branson to New Orleans and Austin, operated by CFM/Buzz Airways and Elite Airways to Denver and Houston-Intercontinental. The Elite Airways service was offered worldwide by

Global Distribution System A global distribution system (GDS) is a computerised network system owned or operated by a company that enables transactions between travel industry service providers, mainly airlines, hotels, car rental companies, and Travel agency, travel agen ...

s under the

Great Lakes Airlines Great Lakes Airlines was an American regional airline operating domestic scheduled and charter services. Corporate headquarters were in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with a hub at Denver International Airport. As of November 2013, Great Lakes Airlines r ...

code. Branson Air Express did not return for the 2017 season as all service was operated by and sold by

Via Air Via Airlines was a US domestic regional airline offering scheduled service across the United States. The airline originally focused on scheduled Essential Air Service from Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beckley, West Virginia, Parkersburg/M ...

. After that all service was marketed by Via or other airlines and the Branson Air Express brand has not been used.

Fleet

References

{{Reflist Defunct airlines of the United States Branson, Missouri