A French seaside resort has renamed its airport after the late Queen Elizabeth II, after receiving permission from the King, officials in the town have said.
Le Touquet received the official support of the king on Monday for the change, the northern resort’s town hall said in a statement.
“The international airport of Le Touquet Paris-Plage is about to undergo a historic transformation by taking on the name ‘Elizabeth II International Airport of Le Touquet Paris-Plage’,” it said.
“This is a tribute to a great Queen and her uncle who had a fondness for France, as well as a recognition of the ‘most British of French resorts’,” it added, saying an inauguration date had yet to be set.
According to Metro UK, Touquet-Paris-Plage airport will be Elizabeth II Le Touquet-Paris-Plage International Airport.
The town hall said the tribute to the “Great Queen” would also recognise the “most British of French resorts”.
A date for the inauguration has not been set.
The authorities had requested the name change just days after the queen died on 8 September last year aged 96. The town hall noted that the queen’s uncle, Edward VIII, used to travel over by plane to enjoy horseback riding and sand yachting, sometimes accompanied by his niece.
“That King Charles III accepted the proposal of the mayor of Le Touquet further reinforces the strategy of the latter who wants to affirm Le Touquet as ‘the most British of French resorts’,” Le Touquet’s town hall added.
The airport was designed in the 1930s to welcome Britons to the coastal town about an hour’s drive from Calais. President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte also have a holiday home there.
The town hopes its airport’s new name will strengthen the link between the town and the UK, and welcome tourist planes from across the Channel.
