Airports with weird/different names

[markch2000]

Hi everyone,
First time poster, long term reader.

I am currently researching airports and the way they are branded, and more precisely how they name themselves for my first research article i am writing for an aerospace magazine.

I am looking for your help in giving me examples of airports and their names which are perhaps a bit different from the rest, or perhaps slightly obscure.

For example, in the UK there is Robin Hood Doncaster International, and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and in the US there is John F Kennedy and John Wayne Intnl.

Also can anyone think of airports which are branded to not exactly where they are. For example in Europe Ryanair brand Hahn as Frankfurt-Hahn despite it being some 120km from Frankfurt.

Any help will be extremely helpful.


Mark :ok:

[chevvron]

Banjul/Yundum?

[Diver_Dave]

Has been Frankfurt Hahn long before Ryanair and the other loco's...

Not a great fan of advertising airports as being xxx when
it's miles away but, in this case it's not the loco. It's been that as long as
I can remember.

Regards

DaveA

[raffele]

How about the recently rebranded airport, London Oxford? Oxford is further away to London than all the other London airports, and I think it's actually slightly closer to Birmingham than London anyhow...

[chevvron]

London Ashford aka Lympne was also a looong way from London.

[markch2000]

'london oxford' is the reason why i am writing this article. using it as a springboard and going on to say are airports taking it too far.

[chevvron]

Lympne is a lot further from central London than Kidlington.

[davidjpowell]

Actually Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sherffield under current branding. I drive past it reguarly and still get confused when I hear it's name.

[ZOOKER]

I'm sorry, I thought "branding" is a painful process carried out on farm animals.
This discussion seems to be about corporate bullsh*t.
In scientific taxonomy, objects are given names so that no doubt exists about their identity. :ok:

[PaperTiger]

Cincinnati (CVG) airport is in Kentucky state; the city is in Ohio. It's just across the river though :)

[davidjohnson6]

Continuing to call a large airport to the west of London by the name 'Heathrow' when the hamlet of Heathrow no longer exists seems slightly bizarre. Perhaps it could be renamed Sipson airport (until it also gets demolished !)

Oxford on the other hand does at least still exist with people living there....

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Heathrow should still be London Airport. Give the other places names appropriate to their locations.

[Gulf4uk]

Farnborough could use its local RAE Name "Sleepy Valley "

But FARNBOROUGH CODY INTERNATIONAL has been suggested .

TONY

[treadigraph]

Tony, wasn't it "Sleepy Hollow"? Or am I thinking of summat else?

I've also a rather vague recollection of a US operator advertising flights to London-Prestwick - anyone else recall that?

[Gulf4uk]

HI

Always been sleepy Valley to me not sure on the Hollow .
London PRESTWICK Sounds good LONDON SOUTHEND LONDON MANSTON
might actully be quicker to use them what with the M25 Orbital car park
the last few days.

Tony

[CHINOOKER]

Don't know if this is of use to your project,but there is a military base in Turkey called "Batman",which also handles some civil flights!

[sharksandwich]

Tony, wasn't it "Sleepy Hollow"? Or am I thinking of summat else?

(The Legend of)"Sleepy Hollow" is a book by Washington Irving, the chap who wrote about Rip Van Winkle.

[wiccan]

In the UK......
Bagington
Borras
Dalcross
Dyce
Elmdon
Hurn
Renfrew
Ringway
Scone
Speke
Turnhouse
Yeadon
and that is without serious thinking

[ZOOKER]

Not to mention...
Port Ellan.
Tollerton.
Clyst Honiton.
Teversham.
Castle Donnington.
Horsham St.Faith.
Collinstown.
Crosby-On-Eden.
Sydenham.
Grimsetter.
Woolsington.
Middleton-St.George.
Kirmington.
Ferryfield.
Rochford.
Squire's Gate.
Eastleigh.
Manchester FISO's, thinking seriously? :}

[Planemike]

SLEAP to LITTLE SNORING would look good in the logbook.......!!!!

Planemike

PS wiccan, it is Baginton.

[markch2000]

thanks for everyones help.

im more specifically looking for airports which have been rebranded to have a famous person/icon in there name (eg Liverpool John Lennon Airport), or airports which have been rebranded to be associated to a destination which they are nowhere near (eg London Oxford).


Thanks for bringing my attention to 'London Prestwick.' Done some research and it was in fact Ryanair who advertised that in an advert in Norway.

[Just a spotter]

How about Shannon (EINN/SNN)?

Established in 1942 the airport is named after the river. The nearby town of the same name was built later in the 1960's (it's Ireland only "New Town"). Contrary to what many outside Ireland think, the airport is in Co. Clare, not Co. Limerick.

JAS

P.S. Sorry, just noticed the previous post ... :\

In that case, Ireland West Airport (EIKN/NOC) was previously Knock International Airport, Connacht Regional Airport, and Monsenior James Horan International Airport (the afore mentioned clergyman being instrumental in the airport being built despite the government of the day being opposed to the plan, the idea being that it would help Catholic pilgrims visit the area)

[phineas]

Teesside International

Teeside International became Durham Tees Valley depsite there being several larger cities closer to the airport than Durham. In their defence it is in County Durham, and Durham is unusual because the name of the county and the county town are the same, compare York and Yorkshire

[A Very Civil Pilot]

World's strangest airport names. (http://news.skyscanner.net/articles/2009/06/002552-worlds-funniest-airport-names-rudest-weirdest-and-strangest.html)

Here's a story I like about Chicago O'Hare (it's probably been on pprune a number of times in the past).

O'Hare Airport. (http://www.snopes.com/glurge/ohare.asp)

There's an explanation underneath thre story that debunks some of the details.

[Rhys S. Negative]

Washington National Airport (D.C., a few miles from the White House) was renamed after Ronald Reagan in 1998.

HTH, Rhys.

[wiccan]

PS wiccan, it is Baginton.
Pronounced without the "G"......As in Altrincham....:ok:

[Wander00]

As an aside, when we lived in Little Snoring 20 years ago, the papers were delvered by Mrs Gotobed. (really!)

[Dairyground]

If you look at Woolsington on Google Earth, you see that Prestwick is actually only a mile or so north of Newcastle airport, a little closer to the terminal than Woolsington itself. Something that does not show up on Google is that the 25 end of the Newcastle runway is very close to Havana. In fact when I went on a school visit down the Havana Drift coal mine in about 1957 we were told that we were under the runway, which was being lowered by about three feet as the coal was extracted from under it.

Those of you who are involved at all with computer database systems may be interested to learn that the IATA code for San Carlos Airport, California, the nearest to the Oracle headquarters in Redmond, is SQL.

[bigjames]

To my mind, the most ironic story of all involves Montreal’s Pierre Elliot Trudeau international airport. As you probably all know, Trudeau was prime minister of Canada during the 70s and was originally from Montreal. One of his big projects while he was in power was to build a second Montreal airport at Mirabel, 45 minutes north of the city.

The whole thing was a disaster from day 1: low traffic, bad design, no links to city etc. So years later, the decision was taken to close down Mirabel (except for cargo) and put all the international flights back to what was then called dorval. In fact, Trudeau wanted to close Dorval and make Mirabel the one and only airport serving Montreal.

So what happens after Trudeau dies? They rename Dorval Airport P. E. Trudeau International. To my knowledge, the only airport in the world that is named after a man who wanted to shut it down!

[Groundloop]

London Ashford aka Lympne was also a looong way from London.

London Ashford is Lydd, not Lympne.

Lympne was a grass field that closed years ago. Silver City used to operate car ferries from Lympne which used to get very boggy after heavy rain. They asked the then Ministry of Civil Aviation to lay a hard runway. The MCA thought they had a captive customer and refused. Silver City then told the MCA to s*d off and built their own airport, Lydd Ferryfield, from scratch out near Dungeness. This is what is now London Ashford.

[spekesoftly]

The current London Ashford Airport is Lydd, but Lympne was officially renamed Ashford Airport in June 1969. Ted Heath unveiled a plaque to commemorate the occasion, and remarked that it produced a typically British situation. "We are changing the name from Lympne to Ashford, but whenever anyone asks where Ashford Airport is, they will be told it is at Lympne"

Despite eventually getting a 1400m concrete runway in 1967, commercial aviation ceased at Lympne in 1974.

[macuser]

I think there was a "coach-air" service between London-Paris at one time, 748s flying Lympne to Beauvais(?). Was the airline Air London?

[spekesoftly]

I believe that was Skyways Coach-Air Ltd. Avro 748s replaced the DC3s that were initially used on their flights to Beauvais.

[The SSK]

Dairyground: If you look at Woolsington on Google Earth, you see that Prestwick is actually only a mile or so north of Newcastle airport, a little closer to the terminal than Woolsington itself.

But the old terminal (where I spent a large proportion of my formative years) was in, or at least much closer to, Woolsington.

Isn't Black Callerton closer still?

Re. remote airports. It used to be the case, don't know if it still is, that in order for a remote airport to be officially assigned to a major city, the process was subject to a poll of the incumbent airlines in that city's 'real' airport, in a process administered by IATA.

[macuser]

Spekesoftly

Thanks. Skyways sounds good. I think they were the first customers for the Avro 748.

[glhcarl]

Oxford on the otherhand does at least exist with people living there...

However, the Oxford airport is closer to Woodstock than Oxford.

[rgbrock1]

Here in Connecticut we have a joke of an airport called Bradley International Airport, which supposedly serves the Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA areas.
There really isn't anything international about Bradley. Very few flights fly directly
to destination from here. The airport itself has no restaurants aside from a few stationary roach coaches and one shop. No duty free at all. Oops. I almost forgot.
It does have a Dunkin' Donuts.

[Gulf4uk]

It does have a Dunkin' Donuts.

And thats the reason its worth a visit:

Tony:ok::p:}

[barry lloyd]

One which should surely be near the top of the list is Eleftherios Venizelos, the airport for Athens.
When it was located south of Athens, it was simply known as Athens airport, or Ellinikon by the locals.
When the new site was proposed, and construction began, there were many who wanted to call it Spata because, arguably, that is the nearest town and the name is well-known around the world. Apparently, the politicians became involved, and overruled all objections in order to call it after someone who had made a large contribution to Greek aviation. Very laudable, but I've yet to hear an arrival announcement on any airline other than Olympic which mentions the airport by name!

[treadigraph]

Bradley International is also home to an excellent museum! Well worth a visit, some unusual airframes on display.

[Wannabe Flyer]

How about DUM DUM airport? Yes that actually was a name before it was re branded. Any Guesses?

[Phileas Fogg]

Well there is Belfast/Harbour, was the Shorts factory airfield, that became Belfast City which became Belfast George Best etc.

Then there is Glamorgan/Rhoose that became Cardiff then Cardiff International.

Ostend (Belgium) has, to encourage passengers, been called Ostend/Brugge ..... because who the hell in their right mind would ever want to go to Ostend yet Brugge has a good reputation.

London/Ashford was never Lymphe, Lymphe was another airfield that has long since gone, London/Ashford is Lydd!

London/Gatwick that, in the older days, had a West Sussex telephone number yet a Surrey postal address!

[Evanelpus]

I'm amazed no-one has mentioned Barcelona's El Prat!!

[Ms Spurtle]

I'm sure I read somewhere once a (perhaps not too serious) suggestion to rename Manchester as Anthony H Wilson International.

Then of course we've got Barton, I mean "Manchester City Airport". Makes it sound like a regional jet hub.. instead of a field with a windsock.

[Grasscarp]

I had to do some work at Brescia airport, and it was advertised as being close to Verona. It isn't, and I found that Brescia airport isn't even near Brescia!

[markch2000]

Thanks again for everyones help. its all much appreciated :ok:

Keep up with the discussion on airport names :)

[JEM60]

How about 'Bernardo O'Higgins Airport'!!! Any one apart from me come across that one!!!

[JEM60]

O.K. I'll put you out of your misery. It's in Chile, and he was the very first head of state of that country. Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme. Dum Dum is Calcutta that was.

[Donkey497]

Without wishing to reopen old wounds, or to defend a certain MOL's advertising, there may actually be a strong line of reasonable logic behind the rebranding of some airports such as Prestwick as Glasgow Prestwick, Hahn as Frankfurt Hahn etc.

If you think about arriving at an airport and getting to the city it's supposed to serve by public transport, the main airport transport systems are becoming clogged, or you have to go from one transport hub to transfer at another system's hub before getting to your destination. This is where the traditional hub & spoke transport models fall down. If you think about these non-traditional airports, their public transport systems may not be as well developed as the majors, but this means that you can reach the major city in probably the same or less time than from the major airport.

Thinking of the last few times I had to travel into the centre of London from Heathrow, it's taken me over a couple of hours from scheduled arrival time to get into the centre of the city. The quickest airport arrival to city centre I've done is in Singapore, or Oslo Gardemoenusing the MRT & Flytoget respectively but even then it takes a fair time to get into the city. Pearson to Toronto city centre takes well over an hour by public transport.

I appreciate that there's some holes in this thinking, but I think that there's a basis for justifying changing the designation of at least some of the airports around the globe.

Feel free to disagree, argue or just moan - it was just one of these thoughts that come to you in the wee small hours when you can't drop off to sleep.....

[Gulf4uk]

=========
Dont you all just love London Heathrow orbital carpark the M25

:ugh::*:ok:

tony

[monkey lover]

NAS Sanford changed to Orlando Sanford, which the UK charter carriers operate to, which gives a faster and quieter entry to Florida than McCoy

[Phileas Fogg]

Whilst there may be some logic in rebranding countryside airfields as city airports ..... Hahn is not, and never shall be, anywhere remotely close to Frankfurt.

Hahn is nearer to the cities of Bonn and Cologne than it is to Frankfurt, indeed it is nearer to Luxembourg, if the Luxembourg Grand Prix could be held in Germany then why not a 2nd Luxembourg airport in Germany also!!!

[Donkey497]

Why not, see Paper Tiger's post #10 on page 1.

[WHBM]

For all that people have a go at M O'L, both Glasgow Prestwick and Frankfurt Hahn were so called long before Ryanair got to them. Prestwick has used that name, despite there also being a mainstream Glasgow airport as well, since the 1940s - here it is as such in a BOAC timetable from 1960:

http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/ba60/ba60-02.jpg

Most extraordinary airport names are typically in the USA, where you will find the "Fifi Fitzenberger III Memorial Airport", or its equivalent, dotted round the country. Once memory of Fifi dulls after a few years it becomes something else. Likewise the US specialises in "International" airports which have no international schedules, and sometimes no schedules at all ! Apparently a customs officer pops in from time to time and so they call themselves in this manner.

[jugofpropwash]

Someone mentioned Bradley "International". I'd like to nominate another Connecticut airport - Groton/New London.

One might assume that the airport is located between the towns of Groton and New London. However, since a river separates the two, I wouldn't suggest landing mid-way unless you're flying a seaplane. (Airport is actually in Groton.)