Six days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the town hall of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (Pas-de-Calais, France) announced on Wednesday morning 14 September that it wanted to change the name of its airport to pay tribute to her.
“With this decision, our airport affirms and reinforces its status as the most British of French airports“, explains the town hall in a press release published on Wednesday 14 September. Le Touquet-Paris-Plage airport (LTQ/LFAT) will be renamed Elizabeth II airport. The city “has since its creation unbreakable links with the United Kingdom“. The proposal will be on the agenda for the next city council on 24 October.
Built to accommodate UK clientele
Taken six days after the death of Elizabeth II, this decision is also part of a tribute to her uncle Edward VIII, who had visited the seaside resort where he had practised horse riding and sand yachting.
The airport is located 2.9 km east-south-east of the city of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage. According to the press release from the municipality, it was built “in the middle of the 1930s in order to accommodate aircraft from British customers“. The place “even became in the 1950s, and still thanks to flourishing tourism, the third airport in France in terms of passengers” behind Paris Orly and Nice. It is mainly used by tourist planes and air taxis.
Tweet by the mayor of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage:
En raison de l’attachement de la famille royale pour la France et la station, je proposerai au prochain conseil municipal de donner le nom d’Elisabeth II à notre aéroport international, un lien fort depuis toujours entre nos deux pays. Le plus britannique des aéroports français.
— Daniel Fasquelle (@DFasquelle) September 14, 2022
