Malpensa, Milan’s largest airport and Italy’s second busiest, will be named after the country’s late former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.
Matteo SalviniItaly’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport announced the change on social media On Friday he wrote: “Good news: Milan Malpensa airport will be named after Silvio Berlusconi.”
According to Salvini, officials from the Lombardy region, where the airport is located, submitted a request to change the name a year ago. On Friday, the board of directors of the country’s National Civil Aviation Authority approved it.
“The final decision is with the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and I am ready to put my last signature, with pride and emotion, in memory of my friend Silvio, a great entrepreneur, a great Milanese and a great Italian,” Salvini said. “He is always with us.”
It is unclear when Malpensa, which offers flights to 180 destinations in 77 countries, will officially change its name. CNN has contacted MilanAirports, the company that owns Malpensa, for comment.
Berlusconi, a billionaire who once described himself as the “Jesus Christ of politics,” died in June last year at the age of 86.
He was elected prime minister three times and held the post for a total of nine years, longer than anyone since the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Berlusconi, a controversial right-wing figure, has been on trial several times in his career, on charges ranging from tax evasion and bribery to corruption and sex with an underage prostitute. But only one case stuck – a Conviction 2012 for tax evasion in a television rights deal.
The decision to name the airport after him angered some Italians.
Pierfrancesco Majorino, leader of the Democratic Party of the Lombardy Council, called the decision “profoundly wrong.”
Instead, Majorino proposed renaming the airport to Luca Attanasiothe Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, who was assassinated in Goma in 2021.
“Attanasio did not divide our country,” Majorino said. “He was a servant of the state and an extraordinary citizen of Lombardy who brought the best of Italy to the world. Someone who wants more peace and justice.”
CNN’s Barbie Latza-Nadeau contributed to this report.
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