Ship of Fools: Better Airport Names for Britain

Thread: Better Airport Names for Britain Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

Most of our airports have boring names taken from their location. There are just three named for individuals and frankly, they are pretty naff: there are Liverpool John Lennon Airport, George Best Belfast City Airport and Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport (with a name as long as the runway).

Of these three we have one named for a terrorist and two for flawed geniuses who died young. None of our major airports are named for great British people or events and I think this is a missed opportunity. What do you guys think? We have airports elsewhere named for great explorers (Marco Polo, Vespucci), statesmen (De Gaulle, JFK, Simon Bolivar) and cultural figures (Prokofiev, Fellini, Strauss) plus many more.

Any suggestions, ideally with some back up? I'm thinking particularly of the UK but there are other countries that don't go in for it to the extent the USA, Mexico and Italy seem to.

Posted by Olaf (# 11804) on :

Perhaps it's a bit premature, but what about Hawking or Higgs?

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

I'd like to raise an objection to the airport at Ramsgate being known as Manston London. It takes ages to get to London from Ramsgate. London Oxford Airport is no better either. I suggest renaming them forthwith, though I accept that sooner or later someone is going to suggest Beckham International.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

One could legimately name Manston "Ostend International". Damn it, when the hovercraft ran you could get from there to Ostend faster than one could get to London on the rattler. The phenomenom of airports like Oxford being known as "London" (or Beauvais as "Paris") is a whole n'other thing.

Stansted is the prime candidate for Beckham International, innit?

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :

Long, long ago when they were trying to push through the planned airport at Foulness in the Thames Estuary, they wanted to call it Churchill.

Posted by pererin (# 16956) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
Of these three we have one named for a terrorist and two for flawed geniuses who died young. None of our major airports are named for great British people or events and I think this is a missed opportunity. What do you guys think? We have airports elsewhere named for great explorers (Marco Polo, Vespucci), statesmen (De Gaulle, JFK, Simon Bolivar) and cultural figures (Prokofiev, Fellini, Strauss) plus many more.

Yes, perhaps we could rename Cardiff Airport after one of our local heroes:

James Callaghan Airport. Where the baggage goes unhandled and the passports go unchecked.

Scott of the Antarctic Airport. I may be some time...

So on a more serious note, I suggest that the Brits don't go in for naming airports after people because we'd only take the piss.

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :

One of the Scottish airports could be named the "Flora MacDonald" after the heroine from Sky(e).

Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I accept that sooner or later someone is going to suggest Beckham International.

I expect Stansted will be up for that - being only a few miles from Beckingham Palace.

Posted by Zach82 (# 3208) on :

Queen's Bangers and Mash Aeroport.

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :

Shhhh .... someone will soon mention the name of the Blessed Saint Diana .....

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

London Jack the Ripper has a nice ring to it.

Posted by TheAlethiophile (# 16870) on :

Having spent most of my life living near Luton and Gatwick (not at the same time), I would drop the 'London' from them as neither of them are in or particularly near London.

I fear any renaming would go the way of the football stadiums, with the name being forced to be that of a corporate sponsor. Anyone for Gregg's International Airport?

Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :

quote:
Originally posted by pererin:
Yes, perhaps we could rename Cardiff Airport after one of our local heroes:

Torchwood Airport?

Posted by Matt Black (# 2210) on :

Like it!

Since Southampton Airport is really in Eastleigh, I vote it be renamed 'Benny Hill International'.

Posted by TheAlethiophile (# 16870) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Matt Black:
Like it!

Since Southampton Airport is really in Eastleigh, I vote it be renamed 'Benny Hill International'.

Well, take a time lapse shot (e.g. a frame every 2 seconds) of the planes taxiing and you probably won't be far off.

Posted by seekingsister (# 17707) on :

We should bring back use of the word "aerodrome."

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lord Jestocost:

quote:
Originally posted by pererin:
Yes, perhaps we could rename Cardiff Airport after one of our local heroes:
Torchwood Airport?

The Ianto Jones Memorial Airport and Weevil Aviation Centre.

Posted by Matt Black (# 2210) on :

quote:
Originally posted by TheAlethiophile:

quote:
Originally posted by Matt Black:
Like it!

Since Southampton Airport is really in Eastleigh, I vote it be renamed 'Benny Hill International'.
Well, take a time lapse shot (e.g. a frame every 2 seconds) of the planes taxiing and you probably won't be far off.

As long as the wings and fuselage don't fall off...

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

London City airport should be renamed Eastenders Airport. Or possibly Dirty Den Airport.

I also think all UK airports should be named as airports for their capital. London Birmingham International? London Preston?

Edinburgh Aberdeen Airport?

Of course the reason is that airlines like Easyjet can fly into a "London" airport, despite the fact that it is 100+ miles from London, and is therefore cheaper. Save £80 on your air fare, pay £100 to get into the city you wanted to be in. Makes sense to me.

Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
The Ianto Jones Memorial Airport and Weevil Aviation Centre.

I would make a point of flying there.

Posted by betjemaniac (# 17618) on :

I've always taken the view that it was probably the same sort of reasoning that doesn't put the name of the country on our stamps, a sort of heroic combination of self-confidence and bashful unwillingness to create a fuss - "our airports don't need names, whatever they do abroad", etc.

Personally I lament the loss of Ringway, Speke, Ha'penny Green, Staverton, and London airports beneath the more corporate Manchester, Liverpool John Lennon, Wolverhampton Business (!), Gloucestershire M5 (!!), and Heathrow respectively. One for Flanders and Swann perhaps?

Incidentally although London Oxford is just wrong, it pales into insignificance beside the (I think German) low cost airline 10 or so years ago which was advertising flights to London Prestwick. Just a short 8.5 hour train transfer away....

Posted by the giant cheeseburger (# 10942) on :

quote:
Originally posted by TheAlethiophile:
Having spent most of my life living near Luton and Gatwick (not at the same time), I would drop the 'London' from them as neither of them are in or particularly near London.

For somebody coming from overseas, London Gatwick seems quite a reasonable name for an airport located in the urban sprawl emanating from London and connected to the city centre with a 30-40 minute train trip to major stations in the middle of London.

Dropping either London or Gatwick from the name would be silly, because both are functional parts of the name giving the coarse location relevant for international travellers unfamiliar with the local geography (London) and something of a locally-understood fine location (Gatwick).

Posted by cheesymarzipan (# 9442) on :

quote:
Originally posted by betjemaniac:
[QB] I've always taken the view that it was probably the same sort of reasoning that doesn't put the name of the country on our stamps, a sort of heroic combination of self-confidence and bashful unwillingness to create a fuss - "our airports don't need names, whatever they do abroad", etc.

Personally I lament the loss of Ringway, Speke, Ha'penny Green, Staverton, and London airports beneath the more corporate Manchester, Liverpool John Lennon, Wolverhampton Business (!), Gloucestershire M5 (!!), and Heathrow respectively. One for Flanders and Swann perhaps?

Bristol Airport used to be named after the nearest village of Lulsgate Bottom (though it may have just been known as Lulsgate...)

Posted by Wet Kipper (# 1654) on :

I've been trying to think of a famous person with the initials HR, so you could change the name of Heathrow but not change the 3-letter code.
The first I could think of was "London Harry Redknapp" airport.

Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :

quote:
Originally posted by cheesymarzipan:
Bristol Airport used to be named after the nearest village of Lulsgate Bottom (though it may have just been known as Lulsgate...)

I get criticised for still referring to it as Lulsgate.

Posted by the giant cheeseburger (# 10942) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Wet Kipper:
I've been trying to think of a famous person with the initials HR, so you could change the name of Heathrow but not change the 3-letter code.
The first I could think of was "London Harry Redknapp" airport.

If the Princes William and George got out of the way there would be a good candidate at some point in 20-30 years time.

Posted by Gwalchmai (# 17802) on :

In France it is common to name the airport after the nearest large town or city coupled with the name of the commune or region it is actually located in, as in Bordeaux-Merignac, Lyon-Saint Exupéry, Nantes Atlantique or Marseilles Provence. Of course there are exceptions, like Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

Coventry Lady Godiva Airport might appeal to the more prurient traveller.

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:

quote:
Originally posted by cheesymarzipan:
Bristol Airport used to be named after the nearest village of Lulsgate Bottom (though it may have just been known as Lulsgate...)
I get criticised for still referring to it as Lulsgate.

That's what I call it - didn't know it had changed.

Posted by Stercus Tauri (# 16668) on :

In Canada they like to name airports after dead people who aren't very famous, except possibly P.E. Trudeau, who hasn't been forgotten yet. Imagine what would happen if they did the same for railway stations... Robert Burns International at Prestwick? Sir Walter Scott instead of Waverley? Alex Salmond... When I travel I simply want to know where I'm going, so the nearest big town works fine for me. I do miss Turnhouse and Abbotsinch and Dyce, though I concede they are close enough to big places to justify the name changes.

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :

I still call it Dyce airport.

Mind you, at the rate at which Dyce is expanding, it'll soon join up with Aberdeen.

[ 14. October 2013, 14:49: Message edited by: North East Quine ]

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

Ernest Shackleton Airport.
"You may not get where you're going, but you'll come back safe".

Posted by TheAlethiophile (# 16870) on :

quote:
Originally posted by the giant cheeseburger:
For somebody coming from overseas, London Gatwick seems quite a reasonable name for an airport located in the urban sprawl emanating from London and connected to the city centre with a 30-40 minute train trip to major stations in the middle of London.

Well, it's not in the urban sprawl. There is the entire county of Surrey between Gatwick & London.

The problem was highlighted to me after I overheard a guy asking for a taxi to get to Piccadilly Circus. Knowing the airport taxi prices, that would have cost him a fortune. He was under the mistaken impression that having landed at London Gatwick that he was actually in London, rather than half way to the south coast.

Posted by pererin (# 16956) on :

But Surrey consists almost entirely of urban sprawl, plus green belt -- I.e. urban sprawl in camouflage.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

I remember a joke at the time of the Iraq War that the Coalition were taking the Easyjet approach - they'd announce that they'd captured a city and it'd turn out that it was an airport 80 miles away.

Posted by ken (# 2460) on :

quote:
Originally posted by TheAlethiophile:
Having spent most of my life living near Luton and Gatwick (not at the same time), I would drop the 'London' from them as neither of them are in or particularly near London.

Damn sight nearer than Stansted though.

Gatwick isn't in London but its not far away. I live in inner London and I can get to Gatwick quicker than I can get to Heathrow.

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

quote:
Originally posted by TheAlethiophile:
Having spent most of my life living near Luton and Gatwick (not at the same time), I would drop the 'London' from them as neither of them are in or particularly near London.

I fear any renaming would go the way of the football stadiums, with the name being forced to be that of a corporate sponsor. Anyone for Gregg's International Airport?

Luton could be Lorraine Chase International, from the 1970s Campari advert.
I have fond memories of watching the planes at Luton as a little girl, my dad would drive me up there when he wanted to get out of the house.

Posted by chive (# 208) on :

London Ashford Airport is the most ridiculous - it's right on the Kent coast at Lydd and to get to it you have to go down a single track road through a field of sheep.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

We should rename Cardiff Rhoose as Bob Hope Wales Airport - his parents came from Barry which is just up the road.

Belfast International - how about Samuel Ferguson Airport a fine poet (sometimes referred to as Northern Ireland's poet laureate, he was in at the beginning of the Irish literary revival and an inspiration to Yeats.

Luton should become Lorraine Chase Airport after the star of those splendid adverts for Campari (or perhaps Chase-Clyde if we include the name of her co-star).

Manchester (Ringway) should be renamed Sir John Alcock Airport - quite apt considering he and Arthur Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight.

Posted by Rev per Minute (# 69) on :

For those with (fond?) memories of 'Crossroads', perhaps Birmingham International should become Benny Bobblehat Airport or perhaps Miss Doi-Anne Aerodrome ?

Cardiff/Rhoose should be named after its new owner, Maes Awyr Pobl Cymru - The People of Wales Airport . Liverpool should be named after all the Beatles, although John Paul George and Ringo Airport might take up a lot of room on the luggage tags (and the possibility of being thought a partial tribute to the late Pope).

If we want descriptive titles, then London Long Queue could replace Heathrow, and London not London for Stansted.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

quote:
Originally posted by chive:
London Ashford Airport is the most ridiculous - it's right on the Kent coast at Lydd and to get to it you have to go down a single track road through a field of sheep.

What about Derek Jarman Airport (Dungeness is in the parish)? Or better still, Dr Syn Airport.

Posted by Horseman Bree (# 5290) on :

quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
One of the Scottish airports could be named the "Flora MacDonald" after the heroine from Sky(e).

While I appreciate the qualities of the lady, why would an airport in Scotland be named after the first female Cabinet Minister in Canada? [Biased]

Of course, Canada is somewhat Scottish (very strongly in Cape Breton, which should really have been named Hebrides 2) so I'm sure that this would be received favorably by quite a lot of the outcasts.

Posted by Dinghy Sailor (# 8507) on :

Full Monty International, Sheffield

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

Norwich Just-about-International Airport.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

We could name them after famous local bands. Liverpool Beatles doesn't have quite the same ring as Manchester Oasis, but I think Birmingham Black Sabbath beats them both [Big Grin]

Posted by Rosa Winkel (# 11424) on :

Hell, they should rename Birmingham itself after the band.

The Iron Maiden Airport for London, with terminals named "Aces high" and "Where eagles dare".

An airport named after Churchill would be ghastly. Perhaps Cardiff could have the Aneurin Bevan Aiport in response.

I'm going through a phase of hatred of "Imagine" by Lennon, and anyway, the Kenny Dalglish Airport sounds much much better.

The old airport here in Wroclaw was named after Kopernikus, who wasn't from here (though his background was both German and Polish, like Wroclaw itself). If one doesn't have to come from here we would have the Róża Luksemburg Airport, or the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Airport, who was born here.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Rosa Winkel:

An airport named after Churchill would be ghastly. Perhaps Cardiff could have the Aneurin Bevan Aiport in response.

Aneurin Bevan Hot Air Port, more like.

Posted by Rev per Minute (# 69) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:

quote:
Originally posted by Rosa Winkel:
An airport named after Churchill would be ghastly. Perhaps Cardiff could have the Aneurin Bevan Aiport in response.

Aneurin Bevan Hot Air Port, more like.

But there would be a special 'Something to Declare' channel dedicated to vermin... [Biased]

Posted by R.A.M. (# 7390) on :

Glasgow Prestwick may well become Rabbie Burns International, although I would prefer Elvis Presley myself.

There must be a suitably punny strapline, better than "Pure dead Brilliant".

[Fixed that link for you.]

[ 16. October 2013, 00:11: Message edited by: jedijudy ]

Posted by Zach82 (# 3208) on :

Our ETA at Beans-With-Breakfast International Airport is....

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

There is currently serious talk about renaming Arlanda Airport in Stockholm after Raoul Wallenberg, the diplomat who saved 40 000 Jews during WWII before the communists arrested him for it. Other suggestions have included the Alfred Nobel Airport. My personal favourite Swede, who happens to be a local from the closest city, is Dag Hammarskjöld, but given that he was killed off by means of plane crash, that would be a brutal irony at best. Sort of like the JFK shooting ground or the Lincoln Theatre.

Posted by Gill H (# 68) on :

The trouble with naming things after people is that history changes reputations. I suspect there are many hospital wings who were until recently named after Jimmy Saville, for example.

Is it true that the inscription at John Lennon airport 'Above us only sky' is followed by the graffiti 'Below us only West Ham'?

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

quote:
Originally posted by JFH:
My personal favourite Swede, who happens to be a local from the closest city, is Dag Hammarskjöld, but given that he was killed off by means of plane crash, that would be a brutal irony at best. Sort of like the JFK shooting ground or the Lincoln Theatre.

Oh, I like that. let's have airports named after Buddy Holly, Amelia Earhart, Glenn Miller and John Denver too.
Though there is actually a Harold Holt swimming pool in Melbourne, presumably with its own Chinese mini-submarine lurking in the deep end .

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

quote:
posted by Rosa Winkel
An airport named after Churchill would be ghastly.

WHY?

Churchill was a great man - not just a great wartime Prime Minister but also a great writer.

Just what do you have against him?

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:

quote:
posted by Rosa Winkel
An airport named after Churchill would be ghastly.
WHY?

Churchill was a great man - not just a great wartime Prime Minister but also a great writer.

Just what do you have against him?

I think Rosa Winkel is Welsh. IIRC Churchill called the troops in to break a miners' strike when he was Home Secretary, and this has not been forgotten.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

In fact, what he actually did was send Met police, and hold troops back in reserve outside the Valleys rather than sending them in immediately as the coalowners and the Chief Constable of Glamorgan were wanting him to. In other words, he refused to bow to the iron-fist instincts of the local magnates. But that's not how South Walian Labourist tradition, which loves its martyrs even if it has to make them up, remembers it.

Posted by Rosa Winkel (# 11424) on :

Bearing in mind that we are in Heaven, I'll only reply saying that I'm not a fan of compulsary sterilisation and forced labour for "mental defectives".

Anyway, given their place of burial (round the back of where I used to live), the Brothers Grimm Airport in Berlin.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

Well, at the risk of getting Purgatorial or even hellish, a lot of people shared those views a century ago: indeed, they were often seen as being the mark of the 'progressive' (and the Edwardian Churchill, certainly, was very much a Radical). But that's the thing about heroes, isn't it- you have to take them, and their times, as you find them. Which is probably a very good reason for sticking to geographical names for airports.

Posted by Zach82 (# 3208) on :

Could "Separate taps for hot and cold water International Airport" be anywhere in the UK, or just in England?

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

I know a lot of airports I might name Puzzleport--if you can find the right gate and figure out which shuttle gets you there during your half an hour layover then you have completed a puzzle indeed!

Posted by Pre-cambrian (# 2055) on :

When we were decommissioning our last aircraft carrier there was a suggestion that Easyjet would buy it, anchor it in the Atlantic, and call it America.

Posted by Zach82 (# 3208) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
When we were decommissioning our last aircraft carrier there was a suggestion that Easyjet would buy it, anchor it in the Atlantic, and call it America.

I don't get it.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:

quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
When we were decommissioning our last aircraft carrier there was a suggestion that Easyjet would buy it, anchor it in the Atlantic, and call it America.
I don't get it.

Easyjet (and other budget airlines) are prone to selling flights to "Paris", "Venice", "Frankfurt" and the like then flying in to some minor airfield two hours away (by very occasional bus or train) from the ostensible destination. On that basis Easyjet would moor the carrier somewhere in the Sargasso.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Rosa W

No more am I a fan of eugenics, etc.

But then, times now are different.

Churchill was not alone in his views at the time.

Moreover, given the history of the movement to forcibly sterilise those deemed "feeble-minded" it is likely he got into this through his American connections.

He was not Home Secretary by the time the legislation was introduced.

He was not present at the Conference on Eugenics in London.

Britain never brought in forced detention or forced sterilisation.

So your objections to Churchill are???

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

I think that's quite enough of the Churchill/eugenics/sterilization tangent. If you feel the honest need to discuss this, please start a thread in Purgatory or Hell.

Remember, this is Heaven! /\Up there it says:

quote:
free from weeping and gnashing of teeth

jedijudy
Heaven Host

Posted by Uriel (# 2248) on :

Could we have bland soul destroying building with ridiculous car parking, overpriced food and overzealous security airport, or would that describe just about all of them? I always find the worst thing about going on holiday is the time spent in UK airports. Could someone recommend an airport which is pleasant to be in?

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

Even if one has favourable views of Churchill, he is honoured a lot already and doesn't need an airport - he's already knocked a woman who isn't honoured enough off a banknote. Elizabeth Fry airport would be much more fitting. Or, indeed, Clement Attlee Airport.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

Well, why not Jane Austen airport, if you think she's not honoured enough? Southampton, I suppose, would be the nearest to her grave.
When Branson gets his commercial spaceflights going I suggest they fly from HG Wells/ Jeff Wayne Spaceport. That way they could at least sing the announcements about the inevitable cancellations ('The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million-to-one...we apologise to customers for any incovenience this may cause')

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
Well, why not Jane Austen airport, if you think she's not honoured enough? Southampton, I suppose, would be the nearest to her grave.
When Branson gets his commercial spaceflights going I suggest they fly from HG Wells/ Jeff Wayne Spaceport. That way they could at least sing the announcements about the inevitable cancellations ('The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million-to-one...we apologise to customers for any incovenience this may cause')

Churchill knocked Elizabeth Fry off the £5 note, not Jane Austen - and Jane Austen has plenty of honour already. Elizabeth Fry doesn't.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Surely an elegant solution would be to name airports after famous fliers.

And you could honour female fliers by naming after members of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA).

So, we could have airports named for Amy Johnson, Maureen Dunlop, Pauline Gower, Diana Barnato Walker, plus we could name some after male pilots - anyone for Guy Gibson airport?

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

Diana Barnato Walker is too classy a name not to be used. I am slightly surprised, come to think of it, that whatever airport serves Hull isn't named after Amy Johnson.

As for Guy Gibson, he could have Cardiff, actually- he was married in Penarth. I quite like the idea of international ports etc having names that might wind up foreigners. Always thought it was a shame that they moved the Eurotunnel terminus from Waterloo, and that the least they could do would be to rename St Pancras International to compensate: I think that London Mers-el-Kebir would have bit of a ring to it.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Albertus - don't tell me the schoolchild-you stood in that gallery in the Louvre where they have (had) pictures of "all Napoleon's battles" and asked loudly "Where's Waterloo?" - me too.

Seriously, how about all flights to Italy taking off from Boudicca airport?

And definitely all middle-eastern airlines should be in at least an Amy Johnson terminal.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Uriel:
I always find the worst thing about going on holiday is the time spent in UK airports. Could someone recommend an airport which is pleasant to be in?

London City. Easy to get to, great transport links, in and out with no hassle. The planes are mostly tiny, which means passenger throughput is a lot quicker (though obviously you won't be flying long-haul from here).

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

L'organist, d'you know I've never been to the Louvre- but I would have asked that question!
Boudicca would be just right for Stansted, wouldn't it? Right area and everything.

Posted by Chapelhead (# 21) on :

Marlborough for Oxford, Nelson for Norwich, Henry V for Cardiff, Wellington for London City...

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

It gets better and better!

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

Rab Nesbitt Airport for Glasgow, anyone?

Posted by Anselmina (# 3032) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
Rab Nesbitt Airport for Glasgow, anyone?

Rab C Nesbitt, surely!! Give the man his due!

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
Surely an elegant solution would be to name airports after famous fliers.

As the prime objective of people on Club 18 39 holidays is to get drunk, they should fly from Sir Douglas Bader airport.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

[Killing me]

Posted by Rosa Winkel (# 11424) on :

The Kościuszko Squadron Airport for whatever airport is closest to Northolt would be a fitting WWII tribute.

Posted by Cod (# 2643) on :

I think London Foulness sounds perfect.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Yes, but Foulness would only work for an airport name if we built the Boris Island one.

Not that that's such a bad idea - even if it really is just a re-hashing of the old Maplin Sands idea which was junked by the incoming Wilson government in 1974.

Of course, if they'd had the courage of their convictions and built at Cublington we wouldn't be in the mess we are now

Posted by ken (# 2460) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
Diana Barnato Walker is too classy a name not to be used. I am slightly surprised, come to think of it, that whatever airport serves Hull isn't named after Amy Johnson.

As for Guy Gibson, he could have Cardiff, actually- he was married in Penarth. I quite like the idea of international ports etc having names that might wind up foreigners. Always thought it was a shame that they moved the Eurotunnel terminus from Waterloo, and that the least they could do would be to rename St Pancras International to compensate: I think that London Mers-el-Kebir would have bit of a ring to it.

Blenheim and Ramillies [Smile]

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :

Well if aviators it is then Jack Alcock for Manchester surely? Actually his grave is just up the road from it in Southern Cemetery.

Jengie

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Rosa Winkel:
The Kościuszko Squadron Airport for whatever airport is closest to Northolt would be a fitting WWII tribute.

That would be RAF Northolt. There's actually a Polish War Memorial close by, famed mostly for its frequent occurrence in London traffic news.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

quote:
Originally posted by ken:

quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
Diana Barnato Walker is too classy a name not to be used. I am slightly surprised, come to think of it, that whatever airport serves Hull isn't named after Amy Johnson.

As for Guy Gibson, he could have Cardiff, actually- he was married in Penarth. I quite like the idea of international ports etc having names that might wind up foreigners. Always thought it was a shame that they moved the Eurotunnel terminus from Waterloo, and that the least they could do would be to rename St Pancras International to compensate: I think that London Mers-el-Kebir would have bit of a ring to it.
Blenheim and Ramillies

Both good choices, but I stick with Mers-el-Kebir for simple gratuitous offensiveness.

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