Milan airport could soon be called Berlusconi
Milan's Malpensa Airport is significant for the city. Now it is proposed to name the hub after the late ex-Prime Minister Berlusconi. Italy's right Transport Minister Salvini is enthusiastic, but the city mayor is firmly against it.
The main airport of the million-inhabitant metropolis Milan is set to bear the name of the late former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi: Milan-Malpensa, also a hub in international air traffic, will then officially be named Aeroporto Silvio Berlusconi. This was announced by the right Transport Minister Matteo Salvini following a decision by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority ENAC.
However, there is controversy with the mayor of the 1.3-million-inhabitant city, Beppe Sala. The Centre-Left Politician insists on a regulation that public buildings and places can only bear the name of a well-known personality ten years after their death. Berlusconi passed away in June of the previous year at the age of 86. There is dispute among the various political factions on how to remember him.
The entrepreneur was born in Milan in 1936. In the 1990s, he founded his own party Forza Italia and entered politics. Despite a series of scandals, the Right-Populist was Prime Minister four times, lastly until 2011. He also led AC Milan football club for many years. Today, Forza Italia governs in Rome together with Salvini's League as part of a right-wing tripartite coalition.
Three Airports around Milan
In international air traffic, three airports bear the name Milan: Malpensa, the smaller Linate, and the provincial airport Milan-Bergamo. At one point, there were also plans to name Linate after Berlusconi. Only last month, the Milan city council blocked plans for a Silvio-Berlusconi square. Mayor Sala said: "Rules are there to be respected."
Internationally, there are many airports named after politicians: John F. Kennedy in New York, Charles de Gaulle in Paris, Franz Josef Strauß in Munich, Willy Brandt in Berlin. In general usage, these names have not been widely adopted everywhere.
Matteo Salvini, Italy's right Transport Minister, supports the renaming of Milan-Malpensa Airport to Aeroporto Silvio Berlusconi, despite opposition from Milan's mayor Beppe Sala. This proposal follows a decision by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority ENAC, honoring the late ex-Prime Minister and businessman Silvio Berlusconi, who was also the former owner of AC Milan. Apart from Malpensa, there have been proposals to name other Milan airports like Linate after Berlusconi as well, but these have faced resistance from local authorities.
