Italy Milan wants to remove Berlusconi airport name again

The dispute over the Silvio Berlusconi Airport in Italy is entering the next round: Milan wants to reverse the naming of the airport after the late former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The city has decided to join an appeal by other municipalities, the media reported.

It is not yet clear when the lawsuit will be filed. The mayor of Milan, Beppe Sala, confirmed to journalists that they had joined the appeal. However, he is not yet aware of the timing. Italian media reported unanimously that the appeal could be submitted to the competent administrative court as early as next week.

Since July, Milan-Malpensa Airport - also a hub for international air traffic - has officially been called Aeroporto Silvio Berlusconi. The decision was implemented in a fast-track procedure by the right-wing government in Rome, one of the pillars of which is the Berlusconi party Forza Italia. There was much criticism of the renaming.

The center-left politician Sala tried to prevent the project with a regulation according to which public buildings and squares may only be named after well-known personalities ten years after their death - without success. The city now argues that the use of the city name together with Berlusconi's name is inadmissible. This joint use should have been approved by the city council beforehand.