Speaking honestly if you call your airport "Edinburgh", "Newcastle", 'Manchester" etc. then Joe Public knows where it is, call it "Tees Side" Or "Durham Tees Valley Whatever" then, to many, "Where the bl00dy hell is that?"
Would calling it "Darlington Airport" be too much to ask to explain to Joe Public where the airport is actually located?
Middleton St George has a certain ring to it.
Indeed, the clue's in the IATA code (MME), the letters derive from
Middlesbrough-
Middleton St Georg
e, as in the former RAF station name and nearest village.
Middlesbrough-Teesside sounds a reasonable name that sums up the geographical location and the nearest large town.
Durham-Tees Valley is a really bad name: it's pretty meaningless as the airport is nowhere near Durham.