Madrid-Barajas Renamed

SCQ83 · Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:55 pm

The new name is already displayed in AENA's website. The largest Spanish airport is now officially called "Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport"

http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/...lite/Aeropuerto-Madrid-Barajas/es/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolfo_Su%C3%A1rez

Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez, Grandee of Spain, KOGF (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈðolfo ˈswaɾeθ]; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the key figure in the country's transition to democracy.

DocLightning · Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:30 pm

I've always had a distaste for the eponymous naming of airports and their terminals. Even JFK. I think that airports should be named descriptively. I like "Phoenix Sky Harbor" and "San Francisco International." Or named by location. MAD is named Barajas because it's in Barajas. Tokyo Narita is in Narita.

In the end, though, it's just a name. MAD remains MAD and this will make no difference to anyone working at or traveling to/from/through MAD.

VS11 · Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:36 pm

Quoting DocLightning (Reply 1):
In the end, though, it's just a name. MAD remains MAD and this will make no difference to anyone working at or traveling to/from/through MAD.

It is not about the airport though but about the person that is commemorated.

sk736 · Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:39 pm

Quoting DocLightning (Reply 1):
I've always had a distaste for the eponymous naming of airports and their terminals.

I agree, personally I find it ridiculous for airports to be named after people. I sincerely hope the rumoured plans to name LHR after Winston Churchill never see the light of day.

Schweigend · Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:16 am

Quoting DocLightning (Reply 1):

Quoting sk736 (Reply 3):

Yes, and yes!

I gag a little every time I see the name "George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport", which is often. Most people in Houston simply refer to it as IAH or "Intercontinental", although "Bush" is used by the media.

Interestingly, HOU wasn't called "William P. Hobby" until 1967...and the name "Hobby" has never bothered me. Way, way back when, in the late 1930s, it was briefly called "Howard R. Hughes Airport", how's that for cool? That moniker didn't last very long, however, and the airport became known as Houston Municipal and later International, until it became Hobby.

And worse eponyms -- Vienna's "Mozart" and Rome's "Da Vinci" Airports -- blecch!

I prefer place-names for airports, such as Schiphol, Narita, Gatwick, Heathrow, SFO, DFW, LAX, etc. (and the very charming but lost Idlewild and Orchard).

Madrid will remain Barajas to me, just as Rome is Fiumicino.

Of course, all of this is just caviling, and of no real consequence.

DocLightning · Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:43 am

Quoting Schweigend (Reply 4):

And worse eponyms -- Vienna's "Mozart" and Rome's "Da Vinci" Airports -- blecch!

In the US, stadiums and ballparks used to be named after players, managers, coaches, or teams. Tiger Stadium. Candlestick Park. The Superdome.

Now they're all corporate named. AT&T Park. Ford Field. Comerica Park.

So we should count our blessings, I guess. At least they didn't name it "Santander Madrid Barajas" airport or something.

coolian2 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:47 am

Quoting DocLightning (Reply 5):
In the US, stadiums and ballparks used to be named after players, managers, coaches, or teams. Tiger Stadium. Candlestick Park. The Superdome.

Now they're all corporate named. AT&T Park. Ford Field. Comerica Park.

So we should count our blessings, I guess. At least they didn't name it "Santander Madrid Barajas" airport or something.

It is what it is (I hate that phrase). As a bit of a total stadium nerd I'd love to continue the conversation but something makes me think I'd get in trouble.

And I'd doubt Santander have the money......

airbazar · Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:58 am

Quoting DocLightning (Reply 5):
So we should count our blessings, I guess. At least they didn't name it "Santander Madrid Barajas" airport or something.

i don't really have a problem with naming airports after prominent figures, but naming them after corporations would be terrible.

Quoting coolian2 (Reply 6):
And I'd doubt Santander have the money......

If they lack money they don't show it. They're expanding in the U.S. like crazy, and they sure seem to have money to continue to sponsor the Ferrari F1 team, and some of the biggest soccer competitions in Latin America.

smokeybandit · Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:59 am

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport hasn't exactly caught on either.

coolian2 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:01 am

Quoting airbazar (Reply 7):
If they lack money they don't show it. They're expanding in the U.S. like crazy, and they sure seem to have money to continue to sponsor the Ferrari F1 team, and some of the biggest soccer competitions in Latin America.

Can you please not ruin my completely uninformed sarcastic comment with silly things like facts? Thanks!

e38 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:28 am

For me, DCA will always be simply "Washington National Airport."

I never intend to refer to it as Reagan National Airport.

e38

macsog6 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:32 am

Quoting e38 (Reply 10):
For me, DCA will always be simply "Washington National Airport."

What happened to "District of Columbia Airport"?

Amazes me that we change names like socks, yet the identifier stays the same - i.e. ORD, SGN, MCO and so forth.

realsim · Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:44 am

Quoting DocLightning (Reply 5):
So we should count our blessings, I guess. At least they didn't name it "Santander Madrid Barajas" airport or something.

Santander Airport (SDR), in the north of Spain and where the Santander bank was born, would have a problem with that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santander_Airport

However, there's already a precedent in Madrid, Metro Line 2 was renamed as "L2 Vodafone" because of its red color, as well as the important local station "Sol", where 3 metro lines stop, now officially as "Sol Vodafone". Now, everytime a connecton with an L2 station or the Sol station are announced, the Vodafone tag is also always said.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_2_%28Madrid_Metro%29

FlyingSicilian · Tue Mar 25, 2014 3:18 am

Quoting Schweigend (Reply 4):
I gag a little every time I see the name "George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport", which is often. Most people in Houston simply refer to it as IAH or "Intercontinental", although "Bush" is used by the media.

Well George H. W Bush (whom it is named after not GWB) was a pilot, local resident (still lives in Houston 8 months of the year) and as a member of congress from Houston helped get funds for the new airport so it is not completely out of place as at least he was a pilot and promoted the field.

Plenty of people call it Bush or "The big airport" BTW

I do like terms like Intercontinental or Sunport!

THough I am not sure how much "World" there is at Will Rogers World Airport

reffado · Tue Mar 25, 2014 3:41 am

To be honest, after reading this thread I've been thinking and I couldn't think of a single - no, not even one - airport in Brazil that isn't named after someone. While I am not bothered by this, I do like 'normal' names. And let's face it, "Intercontinental" sounds way cooler than any name ever would, on an airport. :P

LFutia · Tue Mar 25, 2014 3:47 am

Don't forget most Indian airports are named after famous people.

Leo/ORD

Capt.Fantastic · Tue Mar 25, 2014 3:48 am

DCA was renamed for former President Ronald Reagan, who, as I understand it, hated Washington DC. (He would retreat to Camp David or California as often as he could.) Aside from that, I always found it ironic for an airport to be named after a President who fired many Air Traffic Controllers.

Detroit Metro Airport has always been my favorite. Very simple, the way it should be, IMO

hoons90 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 3:51 am

Quoting Reffado (Reply 14):
To be honest, after reading this thread I've been thinking and I couldn't think of a single - no, not even one - airport in Brazil that isn't named after someone.

VCP and CGH I believe aren't named after a person, but I could be wrong...

Boeing778X · Tue Mar 25, 2014 3:52 am

Okay, Okay.

I agree that airports shouldn't be named after people, with the exception of a few honorables such as BOS, JFK, IAH, etc.
I mean, none of us, for sure, call MCO McCoy Field

MAD is in the neighborhood of Barajas, so it's appropriate.

Capt.Fantastic · Tue Mar 25, 2014 3:55 am

Every airport in Saudi Arabia is named either after a King or a Prince, e.g. King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, Prince Mohamed Bin Abdulaziz Airport is in Medina.

tjcab · Tue Mar 25, 2014 4:00 am

Quoting macsog6 (Reply 11):
What happened to "District of Columbia Airport"?

It's actually in Arlington Virginia, but serves the Washington metro area

Schweigend · Tue Mar 25, 2014 4:08 am

Quoting DocLightning (Reply 5):
So we should count our blessings, I guess. At least they didn't name it "Santander Madrid Barajas" airport or something.

Now, that is scary! Corporate-named airports would be a real step down.

Regarding baseball, I still can't stomach Seattle's Safeco (insurance) field, and Houston went from naming their new ballpark after the Astros to, of all despicable things, ENRON Field, and now Minute Maid Park -- well, oranges are nice, I guess.

Quoting e38 (Reply 10):
For me, DCA will always be simply "Washington National Airport."

I still call it "National", not Reagan.

Quoting FlyingSicilian (Reply 13):
Well George H. W Bush (whom it is named after not GWB)

Yes, I know, I work there, but notice how the new flashy silver greeting display at the JFK Blvd. airport entrance omits Bush senior's middle initials! Not that I'd want our airport named after either the father or son -- no offense, peace to them both.

DexSwart · Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:02 am

Try O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg!

There was actually a policy from 1994 that disallowed naming of places after politicians, but that policy was revoked in 2006 and the airport was named. I don't know many South Africans that call it by name.

King Shaka International Airport, on the other hand, I like. It wasn't renamed, as it's a greenfield project. Shaka Zulu is and was a very famous warrior and king. It suits the KZN provence well.

Anyone heard of Melbourne Tullamarine International, or just Melbourne Airport?

trent1000 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:45 am

Quoting sk736 (Reply 3):
I sincerely hope the rumoured plans to name LHR after Winston Churchill never see the light of day.

Oh? Is there a queue? A government official suggested in September 1997 that London Heathrow change its name to "Diana, Princess of Wales" or something along those lines.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ca...-be-named-after-diana-1238172.html

bwest · Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:06 am

I don't think it'll catch on. I very rarely hear people calling FCO "Leonardo da Vinci".

Overhere in Belgium almost everybody calls Brussels Airport by the town it's located in: Zaventem.

When I was young, the word Zaventem actually was synonymous for an airport to me, as news reports would just say "the plane landed at Zaventem".

It gets confusing though when Belgians wanna help foreigners how to get to the airport and tell them: "You need to go to Zaventem", the poor tourists take the train and then get of in the town iso at the airport...

The official name used to be "Brussels National Airport", and the train station is still called like that. I remember a foreigner asking me if they should get of here for a flight to the US, or if there was an international airport as well. They thought the "national" meant there were only internal flights... Smile

[Edited 2014-03-25 01:09:16]

[Edited 2014-03-25 01:11:42]

Pellegrine · Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:20 am

Yes, I hate how DCA became Ronald Reagan whatever, especially how after Reagan fired the ATCers. Having grown up in DC especially, I still call it National Airport.

rakoon · Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:35 am

It has been an improvised fact, another one of the goverment and AENA, instead and thinking a little about it and put the name "Adolfo Suárez" to another element or place, they've put it to the airport, a place commonly, and universally known for a long time ago as Madrid-Barajas.

Obviously the common people will name the airport, in the same way as yesterday, Madrid-Barajas. In other cases, when the city has two or more airports it is normal using names of people to differenciate them, but in Madrid there is no problem, the airport is Barajas and no more.

flyingturtle · Tue Mar 25, 2014 10:13 am

At least Berlin's Willy Brandt Airport will be ready for the Second Coming of this great German politician.

Honestly, naming airports after people is a distraction. Locals ignore it, strangers are too lazy to google the significance of the namesake.

David

coachclass · Tue Mar 25, 2014 11:34 am

Don't forget Burbank (Bob Hope) and Orange County (John Wayne).
I've never heard anyone ever say that they're leaving for Hope or Wayne airports.
Los Angeles (LAX) properly named a terminal (Tom Bradley International Terminal) after its popular former mayor (I think during his lifetime) rather than the whole airport.

DALCE · Tue Mar 25, 2014 11:35 am

I couldn't care less, to be honest. Any airport is just a place where my plane arrives near the final destination I want/need to be. A name is fine, but any acceptable name is fine.
With acceptable I mean non-offending names, as names like Hitler,Mussolini etc would certainly not be acceptable.

LOWS · Tue Mar 25, 2014 11:47 am

Quoting Schweigend (Reply 4):
And worse eponyms -- Vienna's "Mozart" and Rome's "Da Vinci" Airports -- blecch!

VIE is named after the town nearby, Schwechat.

SZG is Salzburg Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Quoting realsim (Reply 12):
Will Rogers World Airport

Knowing the fine people of Oklahoma as I do, I think many people would say the flights to IAD, LAX, SFO qualify as "World" flights.

EI747SYDNEY · Tue Mar 25, 2014 12:19 pm

They had a minutes respect for him before the Real Madrid v Barcelona game on Sunday night.

Robbie

EL-AL · Tue Mar 25, 2014 12:28 pm

Here in Israel it works pretty well. TLV airport was named after David Ben Gurion in 1974, and all people refer the airport as "Ben Gurion", when entering a taxi all you need to say the driver is 'take me to ben gurion' and all know that you talk about the airport. I do not know anyone, including older people, calling it by it's old name, 'Lod airport'.

ORDfan · Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:20 pm

Never quite understood the dual-naming practices of European airports - at least it seems like a more common European thing. I'm thinking of Krakow-Balice (John Paull II), Paris CDG (Roissy), Rome Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci), Budapest Liszt (Ferihegy), and of course, now this Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport...

flyingturtle · Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:27 pm

Quoting ORDFan (Reply 33):
Budapest Liszt (Ferihegy)

In that case, the terminal buildings were completely newly built at another location. Giving the airport a new name made sense, because at the old site there is still a parking lot, a train station, a bus stop...

"You really want to go to Ferihegy?", asks the taxi driver.

- "Yes, Ferihegy!"

"Okay... off we go!"

David

turjo101 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:03 pm

Some names just work well - and it helps if they weren't controversial figures. YYZ for example is always refered to in Toronto as just 'Pearson'. Everyone from cab drivers to weather forecasters briefing on points of the city usually just say Pearson (eg. Only -22 at Pearson this morning and great visibility of 10 m).

flyingdoc787 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:21 pm

Manila's airport is named after Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr., who was shot in that airport on Aug. 21, 1983, as he was being escorted down the stairs of the boarding tube after having just landed on a China Airlines flight from Taipei. The official name of the airport is Ninoy Aquino International Airport, abbreviated NAIA. Most people pronounce it as "NA-EE-YA". If I remember correctly, NAIA was used only for the international terminal (now Terminal 1), but eventually, when Terminals 2 and 3 were built, they were also named NAIA (T2 and T3). Interestingly, the former Manila Domestic Passenger Terminal is now also called NAIA - Terminal 4.

texdravid · Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:24 pm

Lol. Why can't people just admit they don't like the names of airports commemorating politicians they don't like?

Be honest. I am. I don't like that Little Rock Adams field became Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.

Let it be. I fly there often and don't care what they call it.

stratacruiser · Tue Mar 25, 2014 3:24 pm

Quoting DexSwart (Reply 22):
Try O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg!

There was actually a policy from 1994 that disallowed naming of places after politicians, but that policy was revoked in 2006 and the airport was named. I don't know many South Africans that call it by name

During the apartheid era JNB was Jan Smuts International Airport.

Eltomzo · Tue Mar 25, 2014 4:13 pm

Quoting Schweigend (Reply 4):
Most people in Houston simply refer to it as IAH or "Intercontinental", although "Bush" is used by the media.

A 6 syllable shorthand name...I feel sorry for the people of Houston if they have to say that mouthful every time they refer to the airport!

DocLightning · Tue Mar 25, 2014 4:13 pm

Quoting Schweigend (Reply 21):
Now, that is scary! Corporate-named airports would be a real step down.

Wait for it... I'm sure it's coming eventually.

mainMAN · Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:28 pm

Quoting SCQ83 (Thread starter):
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport"

To be known from now on, universally, as "Madrid" !

Birdwatching · Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:41 pm

I think I know the real reason why most people here don't seem to like airports named after people, and I'm surprised it took 41 replies to post this:

Naming an airport after a person is practically irreversible, so the airports with geographic names (the bigger ones in particular) are becoming rarer every year. Rare equals valuable, admirable, exclusive.

Once an airport is named after a person, you can't easily go ahead and change the name back to the geographic name (has that ever happened?), in rare cases you can change the name to another person's name if the old name has gained a negative connotation (like Jan Smuts to O.R.Tambo).

So in general, you name an airport after a person that seems like a good idea at the time, but time goes by and the person becomes irrelevant but you can't really cancel the name.

People in 100 years will still look up to John F. Kennedy, but who in the year 2114 will remember politicians like Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton. Don't you think the USA will have had more important presidents by 2114 than those three?

If a city wants to give their airport a lasting name that's still relevant in 100 or 200 years, name it for something that isn't as short-lived as a human. Name it after the natural wonders, landscapes, towns or rivers of the area. That's a timeless name.

My opinion.

Soren

texdravid · Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:52 pm

Quote:
People in 100 years will still look up to John F. Kennedy, but who in the year 2114 will remember politicians like Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton. Don't you think the USA will have had more important presidents by 2114 than those three?

Lol, are you being serious? Ronald Reagan is a conservative political icon, and he is remembered as perhaps the most important politician in the 2nd half of the 20th
century! None other than Barack Obama has said that Reagan was a transformative force in American politics that Clinton wasn't.

Regardless of party, FDR, JFK, Reagan will be remembered for a long time.

lightsaber · Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:36 pm

Quoting Schweigend (Reply 4):
Most people in Houston simply refer to it as IAH or "Intercontinental", although "Bush" is used by the media.

This just ensured MAD is called "MAD."

Quoting mainMAN (Reply 41):

To be known from now on, universally, as "Madrid" !

Americans will go by the three letter code since the official name is insanely long. Just like IAH, LAX, and JFK.

Quoting Schweigend (Reply 21):
Now, that is scary! Corporate-named airports would be a real step down.

I'm not so sure...

"Qualcomm" airport would be easy to remember for San Diego.

But where would one hear "We have now landed in Viagra. Thank you for flying Spirit airways..."

Lightsaber

tlecam · Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:04 pm

BOS is eponymous with Logan, General Edward Lawrence Logan. It was named after him not long after his death - either late 30's or early 40's.

Prior to that it had been Boston Airport and then "_____________" Field, although I can't remember what.

Clearly I've spent too much time waiting for delayed flights there.

With regards to JFK, Reagan etc...I prefer Idlewood, National etc...

Vulindlela · Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:12 pm

I think we all hate any of the ones that come about during our lifetime. JFK doesn't bother me because I know of nothing else. To me it's always been JFK.

Same in baseball. We all hate AT&T Park and Minute Maid Park, but no one bats an eyelash at Wrigley Field. While it may have been named for the owner William Wrigley, there is no doubt a big part of it was to promote his eponymous chewing gum company of which we are all familiar. But because this was all decades before my birth, I just assume that's the status quo.

Hartsfield International seems fine to me, but Hartsfield-Jackson just isn't right. That's all down to when I started paying attention. I know a guy who still refuses to even call it Hartsfield.

tp1040 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:27 pm

O'Hare is named for a World War II pilot, the code is ORD for the previous name of Orchid Field.

It is the international airport for Chicago and will more than likely be renamed O'bama International.

[Edited 2014-03-25 12:30:48]

boysteve · Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:54 pm

Personally I like Sky Harbour, because that's exactly what it is! Simple!

Quoting sk736 (Reply 3):
I agree, personally I find it ridiculous for airports to be named after people. I sincerely hope the rumoured plans to name LHR after Winston Churchill never see the light of day

I have not heard this rumour, personally I think the only London Airport that would be referred to in popular culture after a politician would be 'Boris Island' if it ever happens, of course that's not a debate for this thread.

Quoting Bwest (Reply 24):
It gets confusing though when Belgians wanna help foreigners how to get to the airport and tell them: "You need to go to Zaventem", the poor tourists take the train and then get of in the town iso at the airport...

The official name used to be "Brussels National Airport", and the train station is still called like that. I remember a foreigner asking me if they should get of here for a flight to the US, or if there was an international airport as well. They thought the "national" meant there were only internal flights...

I still know Belgian people who refer to it as 'National'

Quoting CoachClass (Reply 28):
Orange County (John Wayne).

Personally I take this as a joke. Also John Lennon has (in my opinion) not caught on for Liverpool at all, certainly not outside the city. Names that the average person in the UK would recognise (even if they had not been there) include;
CDG
JFK
Schipol

Personally I like relevant names such as famous early aviators and explorers like;
Marco Polo (Venice)
Kingsford Smith (Sydney NSW)

Maybe HUY should be renamed 'Amy Johnson International'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

einsteinboricua · Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:05 pm

Quoting DocLightning (Reply 5):
In the US, stadiums and ballparks used to be named after players, managers, coaches, or teams. Tiger Stadium. Candlestick Park. The Superdome.

Now they're all corporate named. AT&T Park. Ford Field. Comerica Park.

So we should count our blessings, I guess. At least they didn't name it "Santander Madrid Barajas" airport or something.

Boeing Field anyone? I'm pretty certain I don't call it King County Airport. OK, the airport is not big as SEA, but still, it's an airfield named for William E. Boeing, who founded ~~Airbus~~ Boeing.

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