David Kaminski-Morrow / London
UK Civil Aviation Authority regulators are clarifying the criteria for airport names after warning that the trend for airports to adopt new identities cannot be allowed to generate problems in formal aviation communications.
This follows the decision by several UK airports to either associate themselves with well-recognised cities – rather than the closest – or to use names of local celebrities, such as Belfast City airport, this week renamed after footballer George Best, and Liverpool airport, renamed after John Lennon. The UK’s newest base is Robin Hood airport Doncaster-Sheffield.
In a set of guidelines, the CAA’s Aerodrome Standards Department stresses that aerodrome names must be “consistently recognisable, relevant, unambiguous and promulgated accordingly”. Although it concedes that ICAO’s airport standards recommendations do not specifically cover the permissibility of airport names, the CAA says the recommendations imply that an airport should be named according to the nearest city or town it serves. It adds: “While the chosen name of an aerodrome may offer commercial or marketing benefits, it is important to ensure there is no detrimental effect on aviation safety.”
Source: Flight International
