-
Related
Former Beatle John Lennon, one of Liverpool's most famous sons, will be honoured by the British city on Monday when it renames its airport after him.
Liverpool airport chairman Robert Hough said the late artist's wife Yoko Ono would be in Liverpool for the event, the first time Britain has named an airport after an individual.
"Throughout the world, John Lennon is synonymous with Liverpool. He is an integral part of Merseyside's heritage and the new name places the airport firmly on the international map," Hough said.
The airport will be renamed the Liverpool John Lennon Airport. It will also get a new slogan: "Above us only sky", a line from Lennon's hugely popular song "Imagine".
Ono, who still lives in the New York apartment outside which Lennon was shot dead in 1980, said she was proud that she would be there to help Liverpool celebrate one of its greatest men.
Liverpool's place in musical history as the birthplace of the Fab Four already brings the region around 20 million pounds a year in tourist revenue.
An airport spokesman said the new name would further stimulate investment and tourism.
Lennon joins figures such as John F Kennedy (New York), Leonardo Da Vinci (Rome), and Josef Strauss (Munich) who have been honoured in the same way.
© Reuters
