Francis International Airport (3D Universe)



Francis International Airport (FIA) is an airport situated in the GTA III Era rendition of Liberty City, specifically in southern Shoreside Vale. The airport has made frequent appearances where Liberty City is used as a primary or secondary setting, including Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, as well as a cameo in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Description
The official website of GTA III offers a brief insight into the airport's history and facilities:

"Liberty City's Gateway To The World. Where we meet new friends and prodigal sons. Francis International has proudly served all of Liberty City's transportation needs since 1953. For the executive traveler, relax in our business class lounge, or enjoy a pre-flight drink in DODO'S, our cocktail lounge. With hundreds of shops and services, Francis International is airport to the stars. 100's of domestic and international destinations served including: London, San Andreas, Vice City, Miami, Bogota, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Toronto, Leith and Tokyo. Fares Starting as Low as $69 Each Way."

- GTA III Website.

FIA does not have a single inspiration for its design, incorporating an original terminal design (the frontal terminal building is a largely unadorned, blocky structure), as well as featuring an extension similar to Los Angeles International's Theme Building. Francis International is also connected to the Liberty City Subway, via a stop located southeast of the main terminal and an adjoining square that features a statue bearing the following inscription: "For those who fought for freedom 1936". In GTA III this statue dons a traffic cone on its head, removable only by shooting an RPG at it. The cone will return to its original place the next time you come back.

A fire station is situated near the entrance to the rear of the airport, as such, a Fire Truck is always available from there. Opposite is a car park which has various spawned cars. The infamous half-winged Dodo is also in one of the hangars and next to a helipad, notorious for the level of skill required of the player to actually fly it.

The runways and hangars of the airport contain many airliners, but they are just static objects and therefore are inoperable. GTA III also features static, unobtainable helicopters in addition to the airliners, appearing in news, rescue and civilian (with a Rockstar Games logo) versions. In Liberty City Stories, some of the airliners can be viewed taking off and landing and taxiing around the runways. Colliding with a taxiing plane can destroy the vehicle Toni is riding in and potentially be fatal to him.

The airport's interior makes a brief appearance in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, when it is featured during the first cutscene of the game. While the interior is found to be situated in the Hidden Interiors Universe, the location also comes with an unused exterior of the airport with a roadway, appearing to resemble the airport's exterior in Grand Theft Auto III.

The airport also exists in Grand Theft Auto Advance, although most of it, including the runways, isn´t reachable by the player. However, the player can still see (and get near) the non-enterable planes around the airport, most of them low-textured planes similar to the Boeing 747. There are also other small red planes around the airport resembling the Dodo.

Trivia

 * The pre-flight bar is called DODO's, a reference to the half-winged Dodo parked in the airport's runway.
 * The FIA's main terminal is reused in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories in the form of the northern extension for the Escobar International Airport in Vice City.
 * In the beta version, FIA was originally located in Staunton Island.
 * Several parked helicopters feature a Rockstar logo on their fuselage.