Prestwick Airport reject name change
21.07.08
Prestwick Airport have refused to change their name to Robert Burns International, the daily Record reports. MSPs and the Scottish government had backed calls for Glasgow Prestwick to be rebranded in honour of the bard's 250th birthday in January.
The name change would have linked in with tourist chiefs' Homecoming Scotland 2009 event and followed name changes by Liverpool John Lennon and Belfast George Best airports. But airport chief executive Mark Rodwell said that would confuse foreign tourists.
Mr Rodwell told the newspaper: ‘We appreciate Robert Burns has a hugely important Ayrshire and Scottish identity and has followers around the world. However, like most airports, we rely on the location name to attract the vast majority of our customers.'
‘Glasgow Prestwick is the right name for this airport given that it is in Prestwick and its closest major city is Glasgow. Visitors may not instantly connect with or geographically place a Robert Burns brand.’
However, Nationalist Central Scotland MSP Alex Neil said that renaming the Ayrshire airport would have been appropriate. He said: ‘I remember flying into John Wayne airport in Orange County, California, and the fact it was called John Wayne was a big tourist attraction. I don't see why we shouldn't exploit the Burns brand here in Scotland.’
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