King approves renaming of le touquet airport to honour elizabeth ii

THE CHANGE IS IN RECOGNITION OF HISTORIC LINKS WITH THE UK King Charles III has approved a request by an airport in the north of France to change its name in honour of his mother. Officials

from Touquet-Côte d'Opale Airport, near Calais, in Nord, requested approval from the King last September and the site will now be known as l'Aéroport International Elizabeth II du

Touquet-Paris-Plage. The mayor of Le Touquet previously said that the name change is in recognition of the town being “the most British of French resorts”. READ MORE: FRANCE’S ‘MOST BRITISH

AIRPORT’ TO BE RENAMED AFTER QUEEN ELIZABETH II LINKS PAST AND PRESENT The airport was an early destination for cross-channel commercial flights in the 1920s when the resort with its beach

and casino were prized by Parisian high society and British aristocrats alike. The Queen’s uncle, King Edward VIII, was a frequent visitor during this period, at times accompanied by his

young niece. Indeed, the mairie has not forgotten this detail, saying the name change is “a homage to the great Queen and to her uncle who loved France”. In the 1950s, the airport was

briefly France’s third greatest in terms of passenger use behind only Paris Orly and Nice. Today, however, in 2022 it only saw a modest 21,558 passengers transit through, a far cry from the

72,000,000 of Paris Charles de Gaule. Only one airline, LyddAir currently operates there with a charter service to East Sussex and Kent. From September 3, Le Touquet will also host the

England Rugby Team, which has selected the seaside town as its base camp for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, running from September 8 to October 28. French President Emmanual Macron and his wife

own a holiday home in the town. The name change is a singular honour as this is to be the only international airport in France named after a monarch. READ ALSO FRANCE PRIMED FOR KING CHARLES

III’S FIRST STATE VISIT IN SEPTEMBER QUEEN WON HEARTS IN FRANCE WITH FIRST SPEECH IN FRENCH AT 22 FRANCE-LONDON TRANSPORT FARES SPIKE AHEAD OF QUEEN ELIZABETH’S FUNERAL ‘FRANCE’S RUGBY IS A

METAPHOR FOR ITS CULTURE AND ART DE VIVRE’