EAST MIDLANDS AIRPORT

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BMI Baby, based at East Midlands Airport, flies tens of thousands of miles every day, but seems unaware of the exact location of the airport. Nottingham is apparently closer to EMA than Derby, according to the low-cost carrier, which has rearranged the geography of the East Midlands in the current issue of its in-flight magazine, Babyonboard. In the real world, Derby is just 12 miles from EMA and the distance from Nottingham to the airport is 16 miles. But the magazine, provided free to more than 500,000 passengers in June and July, states: "East Midlands Airport is located in central England, 13 miles south-west of Nottingham and 17 miles south-east of Derby."

The error comes in the wake of BMI Baby's controversial decision to rename the airport Nottingham (EMA) in its advertising. Maurice Burgess, leader of Derby City Council, said, "Those distances are a load of rubbish and the airline ought at least to get its geographical facts correct. Derby is the nearest city to the airport and should be recognised as such. We wish to retain East Midlands in the airport's name and we're writing to those involved to ensure that our view is known." Conspiracy theories were in evidence yesterday because BMI Baby had already started advertising the airport as Nottingham (EMA) in Paris and Amsterdam.

According to the Automobile Association route-planning service, EMA is 12.2 miles from Derby, 15.8 miles from Nottingham and 19.3 miles from Leicester. Louise Hodgson, spokeswoman at EMA, said, "We follow the distances provided by the AA. I'm not aware that the cities have moved in recent years." Caroline McKinlay, head of corporate affairs at Nottingham City Council added to the farce with the following crap statement, "Including Nottingham in the name would attract more people to use the airport."

East Midlands Airport will now be known as Nottingham East Midlands Airport. This is despite the airport lying in Leicestershire and the nearest major city being Derby. Airport managers have been under pressure to change the name because the term East Midlands is considered too vague and not recognised overseas. The airport is located at Castle Donington in Leicestershire but has a Derbyshire postcode and is listed by the Air Transport Association as being in Nottingham. Each city had worried that it might suffer if the airport is named after one of the others. Managing Director Graham Keddie made the announcement, emphasising the decision came after long deliberations. He said that exhaustive research had shown Nottingham had by far the highest international profile of any East Midlands city.

He added, "Nottingham is the only city in the region that is widely known. We conducted months of research, including talking to passengers from overseas. Time and time and time again, Nottingham was the name that came up. I'm afraid Leicester and Derby just didn't register. Maybe it's the Hollywood effect and the myth of Robin Hood, or perhaps it is because Nottingham is the biggest city we have in terms of size." The MP for Derby North, Bob Laxton, said, "One of the things a number of people and organisations have been trying to do is get some identity for the East Midlands. This is hardly going to help. I just think the whole thing is daft."

Joint action could be taken by Leicester and Derby City Councils against the name change. The leader of Leicester City Council, Roger Blackmore, has since visited Derbyshire to discuss the issue and several MPs from the region are also upset with the name change. Mr Blackmore said his council and Derby City Council were still considering their response, but may work together to oppose the new name. "People in Leicester feel very, very strongly about it, many of them feel very insulted and we found just the same feeling in Derby." The two council's oppose the change because the airport lies within Leicestershire and the closest city is Derby.

Following the change, Mr Blackmore said people in Leicestershire would "resent" the move. Derby City Council leader Maurice Burgess went further, saying people from Derby should consider using alternative airports. He said, "If Nottingham East Midlands Airport chooses to ignore two of the cities around them, people off on their summer holidays may choose to ignore the airport." Several MPs from Leicestershire and Derbyshire, including Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, claim the name change is a backward step in efforts to give the region a strong identity. The MPs are putting forward a House of Commons motion condemning the name change.

Margaret Woods's problems started on July 26 at East Midlands Airport, when what was meant to be a relaxing two weeks in a villa in the South of France and three days in Paris turned into a stressful struggle. She checked in to fly with BMI Baby to Nice with her husband, Neil, her sons, Mark, John and Michael, and her mother-in-law, Kathleen Ketley. She said that they checked in four pieces of luggage between them and were twice called back by BMI Baby staff to confirm that. When the family arrived in Nice, only three pieces of luggage were there.

Mrs Woods was told that her bag, containing all of her clothes, had been sent to Murcia in Spain and that, as the bag was put on the wrong plane by BMI Baby's baggage handlers in the UK, it was their responsibility to return it to her. She spent £102 on phone calls from the villa in Nice before her case was delivered to her. Mrs Woods said that she wrote a formal letter of complaint to BMI Baby but had not had a reply. A spokeswoman for BMI Baby said that the company would write back to Mrs Woods within 28 days of receiving her letter, however, she said that she did not know whether or not the airline would apologise to Mrs Woods or compensate her.