John Major investigated the possibility of renaming Heathrow airport after Winston Churchill, documents released by the National Archives reveal.
The prime minister was intrigued by the idea after a Mayfair businessman, inspired by reading the bestselling novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, lobbied him.
In a letter to Major in 1996, Harvey Spack wrote that he had just finished the novel, set during the second world war on a Greek island where the people kept “looking to the heavens to pray for salvation by Winston Churchill”.
Spack, whose first-name terms with the prime minister suggest he was an acquaintance, acknowledged the idea was a “hobby horse” of his.
“New York has Kennedy airport, Paris has De Gaulle and we have the stupid name of Heathrow! It should be renamed with the name of the greatest man of the century, who has no truly great memorial in our country, the Winston Churchill airport, or Churchill airport,” Spack wrote.
“I can only see this as a tremendous boost to the ‘feel good factor’ for all of us.”
Major thanked him for his “intriguing idea about renaming Heathrow airport after Sir Winston Churchill. I am looking into this, and I am grateful for you raising it.”
Major’s principal private secretary, Alex Allan, then wrote to the Department of Transport: “The prime minister would be grateful for your secretary of state’s initial and personal views on the idea – both on the merits and practicalities, and also on how this might be floated if it seemed worth pursuing.”
Clearly the idea was not adopted, but the files do not reveal why. One reason may be that there was already a Churchill airport, in Manitoba, Canada, opened during the second world war.
