EAST MIDLANDS AIRPORT

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East Midlands Airport has served the communities of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire for 38 years, but a controversial name change is now in the air. Consideration is being given to renaming the airport Nottingham (EMA) in order to boost its attraction to foreign visitors. Many Derby loyalists hope that the plan will never take off. BMI Baby has launched a successful advertising campaign in Paris and Amsterdam in which it gives the destination as Nottingham - East Midlands Airport. EMA, set up by local authorities in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicester- shire almost 40 years ago, has invariably been known until now as East Midlands Airport.

The airport could officially become Nottingham (EMA), in the same way that Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris is called Paris (CDG) and John F Kennedy Airport in New York is known as New York (JFK). The prospect of the airport being identified with Nottingham has caused noses - political, business and sentimental - to become decidedly out of joint in Derby and Leicester. It is the lack of identity that lies at the heart of the problem. Many people in Britain - and almost everyone outside our shores - are simply not aware of the East Midlands. Few could place East Midlands Airport on a map - and most have never heard of it.

The opening of East Midlands Airport on the morning of April 2, 1965, was a big occasion in more ways than one. It heralded a major step forward in the transport infrastructure of the region and demonstrated how Britain was moving away from the aftermath of the Second World War into a new era. Built at a cost of £1.37m on the site of a former RAF base in the Leicestershire countryside, East Midlands Airport was the first new municipal airport since the end of the war. Its origins dated from 1958 when the then Derby Corporation began a search for a replacement for the 11-year-old Burnaston Airport.

Derby joined forces with the then Nottingham Corporation and the county councils of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire in a quest for a suitable site. The consortium settled on the former RAF airfield but the path ahead was neither easy nor straightforward. It took two years and a public inquiry before the Government gave approval and the High Court sanctioned building work to begin. Another setback was when the Ministry of Aviation turned down requests for financial aid for the project - but the local authorities were determined to proceed.

Eric Dyer, the newly-appointed airport director, was given one year to transform the levelled site into a fully operational airport. Work began on the terminal building and contractors began creating a runway 5,850 feet long, a 60-ft wide taxiway, a new hangar floor and aprons, and parking for 850 cars. By Christmas, 1964, the skeleton of the airport was taking shape and staff were working round the clock as the April deadline loomed. A day before EMA was due to open, the Ministry of Aviation dropped a bombshell when it refused to issue the airport with an operating licence because of problems with the runway.

But staff worked overnight to ensure that the new airport could open on time. The airport was officially opened by Prince Philip and had 7,000 passengers in its first month. In April 2003, the airport handled 308,364 passengers. EMA was sold to National Express in 1996 and passed into the hands of the Manchester Airport Group in 2001.

On arrival at Jersey Airport at 8am it was shrouded in fog, but the forecast said it would lift by lunchtime. We waited patiently and one by one flights were cancelled, so it was no surprise when it was announced that our flight was cancelled. We went back to the check-in desk of BMI Baby's agents in Jersey, but they were not interested, all we got was a slip of paper with BMI's telephone number on, which was an 0870 number and a national call.

We attempted to use one of the call boxes in the airport, which were in great demand, to call the airline's office in the UK. When we finally got connected we had to endure an automated menu, "press 1 for this 2 for that" etc. When we finally made contact with them the next available flight was not until the Tuesday some four days later and that was luck of the draw as there were only 14 seats available on it.

We came home via the overnight car ferry to Portsmouth, then a train to Derby, then a bus back to East Midlands Airport to retrieve our car, finally arriving home at 4.30 pm on the Saturday, which cost over £200. We rang BMI Baby to ask for a refund, but got told they do not give refunds under any circumstances but they would give us a voucher for a flight.

We are awaiting the result of a claim we made on our travel insurance, and for BMI Baby to send us our voucher. As far as my wife and I are concerned, BMI Baby obviously do not care about their customers. David and Varena Skelton

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