Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1601 World Aviation Hub (Second update, please subscribe)

Some are exploring space, others are measuring the earth.

While scientists on Elysium Island were testing a multi-million dollar lunar rover there.

In Musandam, located northeast of Paradise Island, bordering the Strait of Hormuz and at the throat of the Persian Gulf leading to the Indian Ocean, a Gulfstream aircraft landed at the seaside military airport.

This kind of white civilian-painted Gulfstream aircraft rarely lands here. After all, this is a military airport, but today seems to be different from the past.

After the plane landed, Christian got off the plane and was greeted by an Air Force captain.

"Colonel, I am Air Force Captain Lin Weichuan. I will accompany you throughout your inspection here."

Christian was once a colonel in the Italian Air Force. After Italy surrendered, he was hired by Borneo Airlines and flew the Hump Route with his colleagues.

As a veteran of Borneo Air, he had become the company's deputy general manager 10 years ago.

He came to Musandam today for his own plans.

"Okay, Captain, I'll trouble you for the next few days."

After expressing his gratitude, Christian got into the car prepared for him by the military, and soon they drove to Khasab.

This is a backward local port town, and most of the people living here are locals.

“How many people are there here?”

Christian asked, looking out the car window at the town.

Lin Weichuan, who was driving the car, replied.

"It's about 1300 people, and the entire area has a population of less than 2000 people."

Since this land was leased for the space industry, the population has basically grown, partly because the military has put up barbed wire in the border area.

While issuing resident ID cards to the indigenous people, outsiders are strictly prohibited from entering, which has led to some tribes living in the desert choosing to leave in order to gain a larger range of activities.

Compared to the entire Arabian Peninsula, this area is only 1800 square kilometers.

"The residents here are basically fishermen who make their living from the sea, because there is almost no land suitable for farming, it is basically desert."

"It doesn't matter."

Christian says:
“Location is what matters!”

The location of this leasehold is indeed extremely important.

The Musandam Peninsula is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east and the Persian Gulf in the west. Since it is the only way for the Persian Gulf to enter the Indian Ocean, it is known as the "Throat of the Gulf."

This is just its location on the ocean, but for airlines, this location is the central point connecting the Asian and European continents.

So if you build an airport here, or you build a free port here, it will naturally become a major hub for Asian passengers to fly to Europe.

“We’re going to build a free port here.”

After the car stopped at the beach, looking at the blue sea, Christian said to Wu Anbang beside him.

“A free port in the sky.”

Pointing at the desert, Christian's tone contained a hint of anticipation.

"You see, there is no better place than here. In the past, our planes would land in New Delhi or Tehran on their way to Europe, and refuel.

Passengers often have to transfer for more than ten hours but cannot leave the airport because of visas, or even if they have valid visas, they are unwilling to waste time and can only stare at the electronic clock at the boarding gate and count the minutes."

As the deputy general manager of the airline, Christian is naturally very aware of the pain that passengers suffer during transfers.

Flight transfers are inevitable for most aircraft, after all, the aircraft's range is limited.

The flight distance from Changan to Europe is generally more than 1 km, except for the C707 long-range model. All other aircraft need to transfer.

Airlines are reluctant to buy long-range aircraft because they carry relatively fewer passengers and require more fuel.

In this case, transfer during the voyage becomes inevitable.

Christian came up with this idea because he understood the pain points of the passengers.

"We can build a free port here. A free port centered on the airport, where people can leave the airport at will, and around the airport they have a surprising range of entertainment and leisure services."

Wu Anbang said as he listened to the manager's story.

“Manager, do you mean we should build a city here?”

"Yes, we are going to build a city here, a city belonging to the airline company."

Christian said as he looked at the sea and the deep desert in front of him.

"We take advantage of the geographical location here to create a transportation advantage, that is, an aviation hub and a dreamy mirage, that is, a free trade port like Hong Kong Island, and then attract people to consume and work here. There will be various duty-free shopping, conference exhibitions, medical tourism services, and transit trade... In short, everything here can meet the needs of tourists."

Listening to Christian imagining the future here, Wu Anbang thought for a moment and said:
"Manager, this is just a desert."

"Desert?" Christian said with a smile.

"With proper operation, I believe this will become a consumer city, and the world needs such a city."

"But this is a lease. You know, nominally it belongs to SpaceX."

The lands leased by the UK in the name of space exploration nominally belong to SpaceX.

After all, it was a land lease agreement signed between SpaceX and the British government.

Wu Anbang thought for a moment and said:

"If we want to acquire these lands, we have to reach an agreement with SpaceX."

"They will agree that if they can sell the land to the military, they can also sell it to us."

Although the land is leased, it does not prevent SpaceX from selling the land to the military. The military can buy it, and Borneo Airlines can of course also buy it.

“Once we build this place into a global aviation hub, in the future… this will become the most prosperous city in the entire Middle East.”

Taking a puff of his cigarette, Christian looked across the sea.

"Then the rich people from Iran, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries will come here to live and enjoy life.

Not only that, it will even attract wealthy people from Europe and Asia, where they can get everything they want.”

While listening to the airline executive and his resources imagining the future here, Lin Weichuan, who was not far away, just looked at them quietly, and then muttered to himself.

"What a shitty place! There's sand everywhere. Only a crazy person would come here."

Many times, some seemingly great ideas seem extremely unrealistic to outsiders at the beginning. That is why they shock the whole world when they succeed.

Just like now, this small fishing village is just a small fishing village on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf that has not changed in a thousand years.

When guests from afar plan their future here, no one can predict his future.

Even the capital market was skeptical when they learned of Christian's plan.

"It's just like Christian said, we need an aviation hub, an aviation hub of our own. But..."

In the office of Juye Bank, Sun Longyue spoke in a relatively calm tone.

"It will just be an aviation hub, there will be a large airport, there will be hotels, there will be shopping malls.

But it’s just an airport.”

As a banker, Sun Longyue has built up Industrial Bank from scratch over the past decade.

Because of his past success, he knows exactly what kind of projects the bank should invest in.
In his opinion, the project was completely meaningless.

"To create a city from scratch—"

Walking to the window and looking at the city outside, Sun Longyue said:

“This is a very expensive thing, and not everyone can be a miracle worker like you.

Some people are always too arrogant. "

Sun Longyue shook his head and chuckled, as if he was watching a joke. Even his tone of voice was filled with a hint of sarcasm.

Hearing the sarcasm in the general manager's tone, Wei Changjie said:
"General Manager, this means we are no longer involved."

"No,"

Shaking his head, Sun Longyue said:

"Of course we have to participate in it. Borneo Air is the largest airline in Asia and one of the core industries of the company. The company will never allow any problems to occur.

Perhaps this investment will drain the financial resources of Provincetown Airlines in the future, but when a child cries, he will look for his parents.

What are we worried about with companies?”

Looking at the bustling city outside the window, my eyes are filled with a certain yearning. The company... everything outside the window belongs to the company.

This is the company.

They created everything here.

Now some people want to recreate a miracle in the more distant Middle East. Is it possible?
“So we can’t just reject them, we have to get involved and provide them with enough loans. The funds they need to complete this project are astronomical, and they will definitely have to get loans from banks and raise funds from the market.

For us, whether it is providing loans or providing financing channels, it is a piece of fat meat.

This is a rare opportunity, how can we miss it? "

With a slight smile on his face, Sun Longyue took a puff of his cigar and said:

"Miracle... not everyone can create a miracle. If they want to create a miracle, let them do it. We just need to eat this piece of fat meat."

(End of this chapter)