Malpensa Is Renamed for Berlusconi, and the Plain Weighs a Name

Milan's Malpensa airport was formally renamed after Silvio Berlusconi in a ceremony on Friday, according to The Local Italy, which reported that the change honours the former prime minister and billionaire and was criticised by politicians at both local and national level. The airport is the principal long-haul gateway for northern Italy, the terminal through which Lombardy's and Emilia-Romagna's exports and incoming business travellers most often pass.

The naming is the kind of decision that rarely stays inside the city where it is taken. An airport name is read by every passenger who books a ticket, and Malpensa's code and name appear on freight documents, corporate travel systems and cargo manifests worldwide, so the change travels further than the ceremony itself.

The Local's account records the criticism without elaborating on who made it or on what grounds, and no court challenge or reversal has been reported in the international coverage available. What the wire establishes is the fact of the renaming and the existence of a political objection to it.