This May Be Confusing At First...

Officials with the Branson Airport, the first privately developed and operated commercial service airport in the US, announced this week the airport's official three-letter designation for purchasing airline tickets will be... BKG.

Travelers may use the code to identify the Branson Airport when they wish to book a flight... but if you're a pilot, don't use it to enter Branson as your destination into a GPS.

The FAA assigned Branson the code BBG in the summer of 2008 and is the official code for pilots to reference when flying into the airport. However, the International Air Transport Association, which assigns consumer codes to airports, previously assigned the BBG code to Butaritari Airport, in the Pacific Ocean.

Since the BBG designation was already allocated, the consumer designation BKG was assigned to Branson Airport on December 8, 2008.

"We want to make sure there is no confusion when customers book flights into and out of Branson Airport," said Gene Conrad, Deputy Airport Director. "Going forward, when passengers see the letters BKG, they'll know it stands for Branson, and a unique flying experience unlike any they've ever had."

Pilots should continue to use BBG as the code for the Branson Airport, which opens for business May 11, 2009.

Got all that?

FMI: www.flybranson.com