This name thing is highly sensitive and to be honest - there will never be a universally acceptible answer.
but
Where is TriCities Airport? (TRI) any idea?
And for a while one airport actively styled itself EuroAirport (EAP). Where is that - in the mind of a non-aviation linked person?
EuroAirport is sold by easyJet as Basel-Mulhouse - instantly it becomes a lot clearer exactly where it is. Despite the fact that the airport is situated entirely on French soil, Basel is probably a better know town that Mulhouse. Interestingly, Freiburg, in Germany, also appears in the airport's name.
So despite being from Castle Donington, in Leicestershire, with my Derby postcode and telephone number - I 100% believe that airports should be "associated" with a major city - every single on of them.
In our local case, I feel that of the 3 contenders D, N & L, that Nottingham is good.
Could it be that some in the local area would benefit from lifting their heads up to look at the picture on a more European, or international scale, not on the scale of 3 counties of England.
Another reason is that while looking on Departures boards in airports abroad - I can honestly say, on 3 occassions I have overheard other British passengers read aloud "East Midlands...........where's that?"
For much of its history the airport has been a departure point for those in the region going away on holiday. But things have already changed, we all are pleased that EMA now has over 100 destinations year round. But many of the "destinations" are also points of origin for inbound visitors.
I still believe, but am willing to be corrected, that if a german businessman near Cologne needing to visit a firm in Melton Mowbray looking at the easyJet and germanwings websites, with the help of his regular everyday office atlas, will find a places called "Nottingham" and "Birmingham" faster than he will see labels for "East Midlands" or "West Midlands".
He then sees "Nottingham East Midlands" on the easyJet dropdown - the probability of him being an addtional EMA pax rather than BHX pax in greatly increased.
Another thing.....
When the airport last did the name change game, it was a BHX/EMA region. Well, things have changed. It is now a BHX/CVT/DSA/EMA region - the stakes are A LOT higher. DSA has already got TOM longhaul flights to CUN and SFB, and now GSM have announced weekly longhaul flight from DSA to YYZ! Shaheen Airlines have announced flights from DSA to Islamabad and YYZ.
So - EMA - please don't expend valuable time and research funding on yet another name change -stick with Nottingham East Midlands (not perfect, granted, but not bad by any means), and build on your already good success, go out and impress the airlines to bring the likes of YYZ, YVR, DXB, India, Pakistan, etc to the EMA route map.
When you are looking at that sort of picture - Nottingham will look a lot better next to a dot on a world route map than EMIA.
