Shaz City International Airport originally opened in 1957 as a Single Runway, 8 Gate airport that serviced the Imperial Capital to the outlying cities of the Imperial Homeland so that businessmen and women could travel quickly and easily around the country. In 1973 it opened up a new runway and terminal expansion that included limited service outside the Imperial Mainland to nations that were considered Allies, which were few and far between during that timeframe. In 1981, with the coming of slightly more advanced aircraft, another two runways were opened up and a new terminal was built onto the current structure, expanding the capabilities by allowing another 35 to 40 flights per day out of and into the Empire.
From it's opening in 1957 until 1991, it was operated solely by the Imperial Aviation Board, which was a subset of the Ministry of the Interior. After the election of Emperor Leotardia, the IAB was switched from being under the Ministry of the Interior to being under the authority of the Ministry of Transportation, and assigned it's own Assistant Director of Operations, which reported directly to the Minister of Transportation. During this timeframe in which it was switched between the two Ministries, there was no new expansion of the Airport and air travel stagnated within the Empire, seeing no growth until 2004, in which it was the decision of then Emperor George A. Loak to hand over the day to day operations of the airport to a private corporation. A bidding process went out and the company that won the contract was "Monarch Transportation Care Services, Inc.", which was headquartered in the Imperial City of Kenner, located NorthWest of the Capital.
In 2010, Supreme Emperor Larry Williams floated the idea of giving full control of the airport, including ownership, to MTCS, Inc. Public opinion was high for this idea and in February of 2011, a bill was put forth before the Parliament. After a week of deliberations, it was passed with only 3 dissenting votes in both houses of Parliament and was signed by Supreme Emperor Williams the next day. Since then, we have worked tirelessly to expand services at the airport. In 2014, using a grant from the Imperial Government, an entirely new Terminal Complex System was built on the southern part of the property. It opened up in December 2016 and the old terminal complexes were demolished and 4 runways were built in their place.
Currently, there are Four Runways and the Three Terminal Complexes. With there being Four Runways heading East to West pattern, the turnaround is rapid for each gate and flights can flip gates in a rate rarely seen before in the modern world. Even though it is also not mandated, MTCS, Inc has been able to repay nearly Three-Quarters of the money that was gifted to it within the grant back to the Imperial Authority. We look forward to a bright future for Shaz City International Airport and the entirety of the Shazbodom Air Travel Industry.
Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:46 pm
