Milan’s Transport Minister Matteo Salvini on Friday (July 5) announced that the main airport is set to undergo a renaming in honor of the late Italian prime minister and prominent business figure Silvio Berlusconi.
Berlusconi, who passed away at the age of 86 last year, led four governments representing his center-right Forza Italia party and was a deeply polarizing figure in Italy’s recent history.
Nod from civil aviation authority
During a conference in southern Italy, Salvini disclosed that the civil aviation authority had greenlit a request from the Lombardy region to rename Malpensa airport after Berlusconi, who hailed from Milan, the nation’s financial hub.
“Seeing as the final decision rests with the transport minister, I really think it will go ahead,” said Salvini, leader of the rightist League party and a long-time Berlusconi ally.
“In memory of my friend Silvio, a great businessman, a great Milanese citizen and a great Italian,” Salvini later shared on the social media platform X, alongside a photo featuring Berlusconi and Malpensa airport.