I think EMA could have been called Derby/Notiingham Airport in one sense because it is actually closest to these two cities and has more tourist attractions than any other of the East Midlands cities -
with Derby being its closest city 12 miles away and with it being famous for its villages and countryside, including gateway for tourists to go to the Peak District etc.
And Nottingham being 16 miles away down the A453 and being the most well known East Midlands city by foreign tourists.
Leicester on the other hand even though being close to the airport is the furthest city away and hasn't really got a lot going for it apart from the National Space Centre.
But having said this, I don't mind it being called Nottingham-EMA because it promotes obviously Nottingham and the East Midlands region as a whole.
Tony Davis, bmibaby MD, said that foreign commuters were apparently flying into Birmingham for business meetings in Nottingham and Derby because they just didn't know where the East Midlands was and where they were actually flying into.