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 operating ...

near

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postma ...

. 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 U.S. airline headquartered in College Park, Georgia. The company originally operated as a contracted codeshare partner, flying under the American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express brands at various p ...

utilizing two

Embraer EMB-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

regional jet A regional jet (RJ) is a jet-powered regional airliner with fewer than 100 seats. The first one was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by the widespread Yakovlev Yak-40, Fokker F-28, and BAe 146. The 1990s saw the emergence of th ...

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 Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH, the firm was acquired in 1996 by Fairchild Aircraft. The resulting firm, named Fairchild-Dornier, manufactured the 328 family in Oberpfaffe ...

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

Corporate Flight Management Contour Aviation (legally Corporate Flight Management, Inc. d.b.a. Contour Aviation) is a multifaceted aviation services company based in Smyrna, Tennessee, USA. It started operations in 1982 as an on-demand charter service for passengers and frei ...

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 popular Jetstream 31. Intended to compete directly with 30-seat aircraft like the Embraer ...

. Much like 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. Dire ...

, Branson AirExpress uses the air carrier services of DOT and FAA certificated airlines, but does not have any aircraft upon its own air carrier operating certificate. 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., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...

from Branson, the concept was revived with a new name, Buzz Airways in 2014. In November 2014 service under the Branson Air Express name was revived and service transitioned to

Elite Airways Elite Airways is an airline based in the United States operating charter and scheduled passenger flights. The airline adjusts destinations as demand increases or decreases. The airline is headquartered in Portland, Maine. History Elite Airways ...

larger

Bombardier CRJ-200 The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 (previously Canadair CRJ100 and CRJ200) is a regional jet 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. History Orange Air began operating sports charters in late 2014 ...

to begin in May 2015 From Branson to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Flights to New Orleans continued on to

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

. 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 gene ...

. 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 will consist 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 is being 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 agencies. The GDS ma ...

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 ...

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