There are more than two hundred airports in the world that bear the names of prominent people – from politicians and military officers to astronauts, musicians and even football players. What kind of mark in history must be left for an airport to be named after you? We learned about six unusual people who received this honor.
Be the first woman in the history of your country to become a military pilot. Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport, Türkiye
Sabiha Gokcen is a woman of an interesting and unusual fate, so beloved in the country that the second largest airport near Istanbul was named after her. Sabiha Gokcen Airport was built near the city in 2001 in addition to the main Ataturk Airport. If you are flying with a low-cost airline, such as Pegasus Airlines or Wizz Air, you can be sure that you will land at this airport.
Sabiha was born in 1913 in Bursa into an ethnic Bosnian family. Her parents were killed during the genocide, and the girl was raised in an orphanage. In 1925, Kemal Atatürk came there for a visit and immediately noticed a 12-year-old girl with unusual sky-blue eyes. He took Sabiha with him to the Presidential Palace in Ankara and adopted her.
In 1934, after the introduction of the law on surnames, the girl received the surname Gokcen from Ataturk – from the Turkish Gök – sky. It is interesting that at that time Sabiha had nothing to do with aviation: her career began only in 1935. Then the 22-year-old girl visited an air show with Ataturk and wanted to fly. And Ataturk sent her to the USSR along with seven other flight school students to study flying.
In early 1936, Sabiha Gokcen entered the Turkish Air Force Academy, becoming the country’s first female military pilot. She completed her first five-day flight around the Balkan countries a couple of years later, at the age of 25. In total, during her career in the Turkish Air Force, Gokcen piloted 22 different types of aircraft for more than 8,000 hours. Of these, 32 hours were combat missions. Gökçen was devoted to Ataturk until the end of her days and even wrote the book “Life According to Ataturk’s Path” for his centenary.
Become a jazz legend. New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport, USA
Photo: CaseyMartin/Shutterstock.com
There are several airports in the world whose names are related to music, but usually we are talking about famous composers – Mozart, Chopin, Liszt. However, the residents of New Orleans, of course, could not help but honor the memory of one of their most famous residents. So the airport, located 19 km from the city, is named after Louis Armstrong. It was named so in 2001 on the occasion of the centenary of the famous musician.
The airport is not impressive in size and consists of only one modest terminal with four halls – but everything will change in May 2019, when a new large terminal will open. In general, today the airport still has good ratings from passengers: they say it is interesting for its festive decor, and sometimes live music plays in the halls.
Louis Armstrong himself needs no introduction – a famous jazz trumpeter and vocalist who had a huge influence on the development of jazz music and its popularization throughout the world. Surely one of his most famous songs has already started playing in your head – “What a wonderful world” or “Let my people go”.
Louis was born in one of the poorest areas of New Orleans into a dysfunctional family and moved in with his grandmother at an early age. At the age of seven, he began helping around the house with the family of Jewish immigrants, the Karnofskys, who eventually took him in and later gave him money to buy his first musical instrument, a cornet.
And the boy’s musical fate, oddly enough, was predetermined by a correctional camp for teenagers, where twelve-year-old Louis ended up for shooting with a stolen pistol on the street. There, the future musician played tambourine and clarinet in the orchestra, received a musical education and decided that he would become a musician. We all know very well how it ended – Chicago, New York, jazz ensembles and, finally, the lifetime title of a jazz legend.
Invent something important. Milan Linate International Airport Enrico Forlanini, Italy
The second largest airport in Milan, where domestic flights and international low-cost airlines arrive, is named after Enrico Forlanini – not very famous in the world, but who left a huge mark in the hearts of the Milanese inventor.
Forlanini, born in Milan, spent his entire adult life designing flying machines—balloons, airships, and airplanes. He also invented a hydrofoil boat, which was successfully tested in 1905, and in 1909 he built an airship called Leonardo da Vinci. Surely the famous Italian would be proud of his follower.
Forlanini is best known in the world for the world’s first model of a helicopter with a steam engine, which he designed back in 1877. The device, of course, had little in common with modern helicopters, at least because during the flight it rotated in the direction opposite to the rotation of the upper rotor (but, of course, at a lower speed). True, the pilots did not have time to feel dizzy: the flight duration was up to 20 seconds. Such a helicopter could rise to a height of up to 13 meters.
The Italians themselves consider Enrico an aviation pioneer worthy of having an entire airport named after him, the second largest in Milan and the closest to the city – the center is only 7 km away. If you want to visit it in person, keep in mind that in 2019 it will be closed for three months, from July 27 to October 27. During this time, the runway will be renovated. And the only terminal will be reconstructed later, in several stages – however, there is no need to close the airport for this.
Become a great writer. Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis”, Greece
If you’ve ever flown to Crete, you’ve probably been to this airport – and perhaps wondered who Nikos Kazantzakis is, whose name it bears. Meanwhile, these are one of the greatest authors of the 20th century and a classic of new Greek literature.
His works are not very well known in Russia. Meanwhile, he traveled a lot around our country in the 1920s, communicated with Gorky, was carried away by the ideas of communism and supported Lenin. At the same time, Kazantzakis did not join any parties and remained a deeply religious person, and at one time he was even interested in Buddhism and wrote a novel about Buddha, which later influenced the works of Osho.
Many of the writer’s works have been filmed. Modern viewers are probably familiar with the film “The Last Temptation of Christ,” filmed in 1988 by Martin Scorsese and starring Willem Dafoe. The book of the same name, by the way, brought Kazantzakis a lot of problems: for it he was condemned by the Greek Church and the Vatican and died in exile.
Kazantzakis’s death was a tragic accident: on the way to Japan, he, along with other passengers on the flight, received an Asian flu vaccine, but the drug caused blood poisoning. By that time, the writer’s body was already weakened, and as a result, in 1957, Kazantzakis died of leukemia. He is buried near the city wall of Heraklion because the church refused to allow him to be buried in a cemetery. The inscription on his tombstone, made at the request of the writer himself, reads: “I hope for nothing. I’m not afraid of anything. I’m free.”
Today, Heraklion Airport, the second largest passenger traffic in Greece (the first, of course, is Athens), is named after Kazantzakis. It serves scheduled and seasonal charter flights.
Become the Pope. John Paul II International Airport Krakow-Balice, Poland
Photo: Marcin Kadziolka/Shutterstock.com
The second largest airport in Poland received the name of one of the people’s most beloved pontiffs, Pope John Paul II, in 1995.
King Józef Wojtyła was born in Wadowice near Krakow in 1920. In his youth, he dreamed of becoming a professional actor. At the same time, the young man was religious, but when asked if he wanted to become a priest, he answered that he was not worthy of it. However, much changed in the 40s: the occupation of Poland and the death of his father (the last surviving relative by that time) convinced the twenty-year-old young man that God was preparing him for his path. In 1946, at the age of 26, he was ordained a priest and went to Rome to continue his theological education.
He was elected Pope in 1978 at the age of 58, becoming one of the youngest pontiffs in history. He also became the first pope of non-Italian origin in 455 years and the first pope of Slavic origin in history. In terms of the duration of his pontificate—27 years—John Paul II is second only to Apostle Peter and Pope Pius IX. He took the name from his predecessor, John Paul I.
Immediately after his election, John Paul II showed that he did not want to be like his predecessors: he refused the coronation ceremony, did not wear the papal tiara and spoke of himself as “I” and not “we”, as was customary with previous heads of the Vatican. Today he is considered one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century.
After his death in 2005, talk began almost immediately that John Paul II was worthy to be canonized. To do this, you need two confirmed facts of a miracle that occurred with the assistance of the person being canonized – and they happened. John Paul II was beatified as a saint in 2014 by Pope Francis.
Become the best football player in the world. Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, Funchal, Portugal
Photo: LIAL/Shutterstock.com
Madeira International Airport, one of the largest in Portugal, was renamed in 2016 – and is now officially called Cristiano Ronaldo Airport. The footballer is very loved in his homeland, hence the honor.
Madeira Airport, by the way, is known not only for its modern name: at one time it was one of the ten most complex airports in the world. The fact is that in order to land, the plane had to be directed towards the mountains and, almost at the last moment, sharply change course in order to get to the runway. But these difficulties ended in 2000, when the strip was completed.
Everyone today probably knows about Cristiano himself, even if he is not interested in football. Winner of 25 different trophies for his games for various teams and the Portuguese national team, three times recognized as the best football player in the world according to FIFA, the best club football player according to UEFA, winner of two FIFA Golden Balls… In general, just listing all the regalia of a thirty-three-year-old football player will take several paragraphs. One thing is clear: Ronaldo’s name has already gone down in history, but he is still far from finishing his career.
By the way, about the name. Ronaldo is not a football player’s surname, as you might think (it sounds like dos Santos Aveiro),
and the second name given to Cristiano at birth. By the way, very rare for Portugal: the boy was named after Ronald Reagan, whose father was a fan. His father partly influenced Cristiano’s life: he worked in the Andorinha amateur football team, where he brought his son. The rest is known – a contract with Lisbon Sporting, a transfer to Manchester United, the Portuguese national team, Real Madrid, Juventus. Even those who are not too fond of Ronaldo himself admit that he is one of the best football players of all time.
OforYou can book hotels online on the website or in the OneTwoTrip application.
