JOHN LENNON'S legendary name helped put Liverpool's airport on the map, but now safety officials claim the long title could cause chaos in the skies.
After a string of airports naming themselves after local icons, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has decided such handles take up too much radio time and will be ignored by air traffic control operators.
The warning came after yesterday's renaming of Belfast International Airport after football hero George Best.
Last night, a spokesman for the CAA said that long names, like Liverpool John Lennon Airport, could cause congestion on air traffic control frequencies and confusion over its location.
He said: "It doesn't matter what the airport calls itself to its passengers, we're concerned only with safety and ease of use and we will use a name that reflect that."
In a notice to all airports, the CAA said that for operational purposes, commercial names would no longer be allowed.
It said while the International Civil Aviation Organisation did not specifically cover airport names, its recommendations implied they should be named according to the nearest town or city.
It said: "Names that are non-aviation related, the name of a public figure or that reflect the type of aerodrome or its operation, eg. "international", are not permitted.
"The name given to an aerodrome for commercial purposes will not be used in correspondence with the CAA."
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