Identity
In a controversial move in 2004, East Midlands Airport was renamed Nottingham East Midlands Airport, despite part of the airport lying in Leicestershire, being in the Derby postal area and the nearest cities being Derby and Nottingham. Furthermore, there was already a Nottingham Airport, which is closer to Nottingham, even though it was a small airfield catering to general aviation.
The reasoning behind the name change was that many people from outside the UK and unfamiliar with the country's geography could not identify with the term 'East Midlands' and understandably did not know exactly where in the UK it was. The argument for adding 'Nottingham' to the name was that the city had greater international recognition through its size and historical connections. This assertion was disputed in the BBC's local news programme East Midlands Today which travelled to Amsterdam. Whilst there the BBC reporters asked the Amsterdam residents to identify the location of Nottingham on a map of the UK. The vast majority failed; however, many more Dutch locals had heard of "Nottingham" than "the East Midlands".
A BBC report on 18 October 2006 suggested that the airport might change its name again, and the eventual change, to East Midlands Airport: Nottingham, Leicester, Derby came into effect on 8 December 2006, despite the city of Leicester being furthest away from the airport. Yet, Leicester is the biggest city in the region of the East Midlands and the airport falls under Leicester's ceremonial county of Leicestershire.
Read more about this topic: East Midlands Airport
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