Milan Airport To Be Renamed After Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Admin July 6, 2024

7 2 minutes read

Summary

Milan Malpensa Airport to be renamed after late Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi.
Italy’s civil aviation authority reportedly approved the Lombardy region’s request for the name change.
The airport is the largest in Milan, handling over 20 million passengers annually.

Milan’s main airport, Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP), will reportedly be renamed in honor of the late Italian prime minister and business figure Silvio Berlusconi. The news was announced by Italy’s Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, according to a report by the Financial Express.

A name change stirring debate

At a conference in southern Italy, Salvini announced that Italy’s civil aviation authority had approved a request from the Lombardy region to rename Malpensa Airport after Berlusconi, a native of Milan, the nation’s financial center. Commenting on the decision to change the airport’s name, Salvini said on its social media platform X:

“The final decision lies with the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, and I am ready to put the last signature, with pride and emotion, in the memory of my friend Silvio, a great entrepreneur, a great Milanese, and a great Italian.”

The name change comes more than seven decades after the airport was established for civil operations. Berlusconi, who died at the age of 86 last year, served as the leader of four governments representing his center-right Forza Italia party. Shortly after the name change was announced, the transport minister released a new video on X stating that Silvio Berlusconi has left a significant mark on this country’s history.

“Some on the left may turn up their noses after decades of insults, defamations, and trials, but Silvio Berlusconi made the history of this country, and it is right to name Malpensa airport after him.”

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More about Milan’s biggest airport

Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP) is the largest of Milan’s three main airports in Italy, handling more than 20 million passengers every year. The city’s other two airports are Bergamo Airport (BGY) and Milan Linate Airport (LIN).

Located 49 kilometers northwest of Milan, the airport is beside the Ticino River, which separates Lombardy and Piedmont provinces. Giovanni Agusta and Gianni Caproni opened the airport in 1909 to test aircraft prototypes, but it transitioned to civil aviation in 1948.

The airport is the central hub for multiple airlines, including easyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, and Malta Air, among others.

It is worth noting that the airport is not only the largest in Italy’s northern region, but also one of the largest in the entire country, ranking as the second-busiest airport in Italy after Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) in 2023. In 2023, MXP airport carried a total of 26.1 million passengers, representing an increase of 22.15% when compared to 2022, when the airport handled 21 million passengers.