Zhuhai International Airport has been quiet for so many years that the farmers whose plots adjoin the sprawling airside complex still look up when a plane flies by.
The only remarkable thing about the airport is how unsuccessful it has been. For many, its ill-advised construction in the early 1990s will be the eternal poster child for the folly of China's cronyism and infrastructural excess.
On face value, it's hard to understand why the Airport Authority would want to have any part of this historic commercial failure.
The truth is, the authority initially shared the public scepticism that has emerged since the deal surfaced last month, which is why it took four years to reach agreement after being approached by mainland officials.
But as time went by, the airports in Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou gained a greater - some would say inflated - understanding of their worth, and Zhuhai became the obvious target for the authority's much-needed expansion into the Pearl River Delta.
However, given Zhuhai's track record, the deal had to come with a minimum of risk, a condition the authority believes it has achieved with the deal unveiled on Wednesday.