Mayor still reluctant Milan to get Silvio Berlusconi airport
Milan Malpensa Airport should be named after Silvio Berlusconi, the transport minister has demanded. However, the mayor is against it.
The most important airport in the northern Italian metropolis of Milan, with its millions of inhabitants, is to bear the name of the late former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in future: Milan-Malpensa Airport - also a hub for international air traffic - is to be officially named Aeroporto Silvio Berlusconi.
This was announced by right-wing Transport Minister Matteo Salvini following a decision by the Italian aviation authority Enac. However, there is still a dispute with the mayor of the city of 1.3 million inhabitants, Beppe Sala.
The center-left politician insists on a regulation according to which public buildings and squares may only be named after a famous person ten years after their death. Berlusconi died in June last year at the age of 86. There is a dispute between the various political camps as to how he should be remembered.
The construction and media entrepreneur was born in Milan in 1936. In the 1990s, he founded his own party, Forza Italia, and moved into politics. Despite a series of affairs and scandals, the right-wing populist was Prime Minister four times, most recently until 2011.
He was also at the helm of the AC Milan football club for many years. Today, Forza Italia governs Rome together with Salvini's Lega party as part of a right-wing three-party coalition.
In international air traffic, three airports operate under the name of Milan: Malpensa, the smaller Linate airport and the provincial airport of Milan-Bergamo.
In the meantime, there had also been considerations to name Linate after Berlusconi. Just last month, Milan City Council blocked plans for a Silvio Berlusconi square. Mayor Sala said: "Rules are there to be respected."
Internationally, there are many airports bearing the names of politicians: John F. Kennedy in New York, Charles de Gaulle in Paris, Franz Josef Strauss in Munich, Willy Brandt in Berlin. However, the names have not caught on everywhere in general usage.
SDA
