New Names for Midland Airports?
We’ve talked before on this blog about airports named after celebrities and historical figures – well now a few airports in the Midlands are racing to change their names, hoping that ties to such great men as William Shakespeare and Sir David Attenborough will increase tourism in the region.
Birmingham Airport has considered partially renaming the airport after Shakespeare, hoping that in the year 400 years after Shakespeare’s death it will help to draw in additional tourism. By highlighting Shakespeare’s affiliation with the area, and promoting how close it is to visit his town of Stratford-upon-Avon from Birmingham, although airport officials are so far only naming it Shakespeare Airport for flights to the US and China.
Meanwhile, East Midland Airport’s announcement that they were considering changing their name to something fitting one of the area’s local celebrities spurred Holiday Extras to release a survey to see who should get the honour. Alongside Sir David Attenborough were Carl Froch, Torvill and Dean, Maid Marian, Brian Clough and Gary Lineker, but Sir David draw a huge 55% of the vote.
This comes after the recent decision that the UK’s new £200 million polar research ship will be named the RSS (Royal Research Ship) Sir David Attenborough, in spite of an overwhelming portion of the public voting for it to be named Boaty McBoatface. The Natural Environment Research Council have said that while the ship itself won’t get the name, there will be a remotely operated underwater vehicle named Boaty McBoatface. Democracy wins.
The question is, will attaching Sir David’s name to the airport serve to bring more tourism to the area?