The opening of Paine Field Airport in Everett, Washington may have been delayed by the recent government shutdown but there is little to be annoyed or stressed about when you enter this impressively small airport.

Paine Field has been designed much like a boutique hotel to offer a unique and appealing experience when you make your way to the airport for any of its 18 daily scheduled flights. You may enjoy the possibilities offered by air travel, but do any of you really enjoy the experience of navigating the large airports we spend our time in as we travel the world?

The point of Everett Field is to create an airport where the passenger is placed at the heart of the travel experience. Time spent at the impressive terminal, which feels more like a lounge is not wasted within the terminal containing floor to ceiling windows with views of the Olympic Mountains. The opening of a wine bar and a Beecher’s Cheeses Shop add a sense of small-scale flair to the newly designed airport which hopes to offer a world-class travel experience partnered by the intimacy and comfort of a smaller airport.

Alaska Airlines was the first commercial flight operator to being operations from the bespoke airport with flights to six airports throughout the West of the U.S. The airline hopes to expand its offerings in the coming years with plans for more routes to San Jose and beyond from Paine Field. The new $40 million terminal has been planned for over five years and will see United join Alaska in providing flights across the western half of the U.S. from March 31, 2019.

This is the latest example of the impressive nature of public-private partnerships which have been of ever-increasing importance across the U.S. in recent years. The Propellor Airports brand is behind the multimillion-dollar investment in Snohomish County which was also backed by local Democrat Representative Rick Larsen who feels the project will aid his constituents. The politician stated his belief that the airport would benefit more than just the private company involved in the construction of the airport. Growing the economy of Snohomish County has been an aim of the House Representative throughout his career and resulted in him backing the construction of the airport terminal.

Despite the modern, upscale nature of the newly-constructed terminal the history of Everett, Washington is being honored by those in control of the project. The airport is named for a giant of local aviation, former airmail carrier Topliff Olin Paine. One of those who led the charge towards carrying mail by air n the early part of the 20th-century, Paine is remembered with a statue positioned on the sidewalk by the entrance to the airport named in his honor.

The operators of Paine Airport in Evertt hop to take advantage of the fatigue many commuters feel about their difficult trips to Portland with a regular shuttle service to the neighboring state of Oregon. Before the opening of the airport in Everett, travelers from across this part of Washington were forced to take on the traffic on the way to the difficult drive to Seattle to find the nearest airline to travel with whether commuting or taking a leisure trip.

One of the markets identified by Propellor Airports when planning Paine Field was that of the closeness to Silicon Valley of Everett. Daily flights to and from technology hubs, such as San Francisco and San Jose are hoped to play a major role in the development of the area in economic terms.