Cabinet papers from 1996, just released by the National Archives, reveal the then-prime minister, John Major, considered re-naming Heathrow airport to honour Sir Winston Churchill. The idea was not acted upon at the time.

After the news was revealed, Europe’s busiest airport was guarded in its response. A Heathrow spokesperson said: “As Britain’s front door to the world, we’re proud to have been considered as a potential site to honour Sir Winston Churchill.

“Heathrow Terminal 2 is already named in honour of Her Majesty the Queen and as the country’s hub airport expands over the next decade, we will look at further opportunities to appropriately recognise the huge contribution Sir Winston and others have made to Britain’s global reputation.”

At present in the UK only George Best Belfast City, Liverpool John Lennon and Robin Hood Doncaster-Sheffield are named after individuals. 

With the help of readers, relatives and staff writers, The Independent has compiled prospective names for 22 of the top UK airports, celebrating local heroes.

Created with Sketch.

Created with Sketch.

Several are sports stars. They include Andy Murray, who was born in Glasgow in 1987, and Olympic gold medal boxer, Nicola Adams, the choice for Leeds Bradford airport.

London City is the local airport for West Ham, and the late former captain Bobby Moore has been nominated to be honoured at the Docklands gateway.

But Gatwick, the second-busiest airport in Britain, has rejected the suggestion that it may soon become Gareth Southgate International.

Although the England football manager was born in Watford, he grew up in Gatwick’s home town of Crawley. He attended Hazelwick School, just one mile from the airport’s perimeter – along with Robert Smith of The Cure.

But a Gatwick spokesperson said: “With so many local heroes, we could pick a whole team of champions to honour. But, we’re just taking it game by game and will have to keep your idea on the bench for now.”

The third-busiest airport, Manchester, has plenty of sporting greats from whom to choose – but the choice of The Independent is the brilliant Second World War codebreaker, Alan Turing. After the war, he was a computer programming pioneer at the city’s university.

Stansted airport has brushed off the suggestion that it may adopt the name Jamie Oliver International. The celebrity chef was born nearby, but has campaigned against a second runway at the Essex airport.

Olly Murs and Dermot O’Leary may be considered instead.

For Cardiff airport’s new name, the competition was especially tough – with Shirley Bassey eventually waving off Tom Jones, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Ryan Giggs.

Similarly in Newcastle, TV personality Cheryl Tweedy – formerly known as Cole and Fernandez-Versini – has been chosen ahead of football legends Alan Shearer and Jackie Charlton, and television hosts Ant and Dec.

Scotland’s busiest airport, Edinburgh, is not yet ready to adopt the name Mary Queen of Scots.

A spokesman for Edinburgh airport said: “We’re proud of our Scottish heritage and for being Scotland’s gateway to the world.

“Although there are no plans to change our name, we’d have a wealth of fantastic options open to us if that were to ever change.”

The singer-songwriter Annie Lennox, who celebrated her 65th birthday on Christmas Day, is the choice for Aberdeen.

While Prestwick is the only place where Elvis Presley set foot in Britain, it is believed that licensing issues could prevent the Ayrshire airport from adopting his name. Instead, it could celebrate the writer of Auld Lang Syne, Robert Burns, who was born three miles away in Alloway.

Lorraine Kelly, the most prominent user of Dundee’s small airport, may soon find her name attached to the Tayside gateway.

And the actor Lorraine Chase will possibly be honoured by Luton for her Campari advertisements in the 1970s which brought prominence to the Bedfordshire airport.

With Thomas Cook no longer an active holiday firm, the travel pioneer’s name can finally be appended to East Midlands – serving Derbyshire, where he was born, and Leicestershire, where he launched his first excursion.

Moscow’s biggest airport Sheremetyevo, has just been renamed Alexander Pushkin, after the writer who was born in the Russian capital in 1799. And Edinburgh’s main station, Waverley, is named after a novel by Sir Walter Scott. But great figures in literature have not enjoy widespread recognition in aviation in Britain.

Birmingham has promoted the term “Shakespeare’s Airport” for overseas marketing campaigns, but has no plans to rename itself permanently after the playwright.

Inverness is the location for Macbeth’s castle, so the character is the obvious choice for the re-naming far north city’s airport. While J K Rowling lives in the Scottish Highlands, Exeter – where the writer studied – may wish to adopt her name.

Landing soon? The Independent nominations for airport rebranding

Aberdeen: Annie Lennox

Birmingham: William Shakespeare

Bristol: Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Cardiff: Shirley Bassey

Dundee: Lorraine Kelly

East Midlands: Thomas Cook

Edinburgh: Mary Queen of Scots

Exeter: J K Rowling

Gatwick: Gareth Southgate

Glasgow: Andy Murray

Inverness: Macbeth

Leeds Bradford: Nicola Adams

London City: Bobby Moore

Luton: Lorraine Chase

Manchester: Alan Turing

Newcastle: Cheryl Tweedy

Norwich: Edith Cavell

Prestwick: Robert Burns

Southampton: Benny Hill

Southend: Freddie Laker

Stansted: Jamie Oliver

Teeside: Captain Cook

With thanks to Cathy Adams, Martin Baum, “Bigted”, Kate Calder, Penny Calder, “Alex Mc”, Rob Merrick, Roisin O’Connor, Michael Owens, Colin Pearce, “@Prettynickyxxx”, Michael Weaver and Josh Withey, as well as the airports that kindly responded

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