New airports won’t be named after famous personalities now

India’s Civil Aviation Ministry is doing away with the method of naming airports after famous personalities.

As per the new rules, the new airports will be names after cities in which they are located. However, the lounges and terminals inside the airport can be named after people.

"We have prepared a Cabinet note, which is being sent for inter-ministerial consultations now. We expect the Cabinet to clear it in a month's time," a senior aviation ministry official, who did not want to be identified, told ET.

There was a string of controversies that led the Indian government to decide on doing away with the policy, for instance Chandigarh airport.

Since Chandigarh is capital of both Punjab and Haryana, these states have different names for the airport.

But, later it was decided to name the international airport after Chandigarh only.

"This is a welcome move but the government should also remove names from all airports in the country. Naming of airports is political and the government should totally do away with it," Mohan Ranganathan, a former pilot and an aviation expert, told ET.