(ABC 6 News) — Mason City, IA and it’s airport celebrated a new addition on Wednesday. Officials held a ceremonial ribbon cutting for the newly built terminal.

The new terminal gives travelers a more 21st century traveling experience, from those coming and going from the River City.

It was a project 4 years in the making that all started with recognizing the need for new updates in the old terminal building.

“As we got deeper into that project, we realized that the needs were starting to get so expensive that it was more financially prudent to build a new terminal,” said airport manager David Sims.

One of the main focal points was on an improved functional space.

“The areas in the old terminal were much smaller and not very well utilized. The new terminal is almost 10 times bigger in those keys areas to provide room for the passengers we have today and tomorrow,” Sims said.

With more seats and the airport being able to now hold 80 passengers instead of 20, the hope is that the airport will be a more user-friendly building.

Airport Commission Chair Gary Wattnem said, “This is going to bring big city amenities. We now have a jet bridge. We now have a much larger holding area for passengers once they get through the TSA system and it’s just going to be much easier for people to use the airport.”

The new terminal will begin operating flights starting next week on Wednesday, July 31st.