Milan's Malpensa Airport official took on the name of late ex-premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi on Friday.
    "The realization that the Silvio Berlusconi Milan-Malpensa Airport will welcome thousands of travellers from all over the world every day fills me with pride and emotion," Marina Berlusconi, the ex-premier's oldest child and chair of family holding company Fininvest and head of Italy's largest publishing group Mondadori, told ANSA.
    "What better name could there be for a bridge like this than Silvio Berlusconi? "He was a man who always sought dialogue with everyone.
    "My father spent his life looking ahead and into the distance.
    "I like to think that from today on, his name will welcome those arriving from other countries and see off those taking off toward new destinations" With the backing of centre-right government, including Forza Italia, the party Berlusconi founded, civil aviation authority ENAC decided to rename the airport in 2024, a year after his death at the age of 86.
    The decision was controversial and the official renaming was delayed by legal challenges from Milan's centre-left administration led by Mayor Beppe Sala.
    At the time of writing the airport's website had not adopted the new name.

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