Paris-Vatry Disney is the latest ‘ambiguous’ airport to be added to Ryanair’s list of destinations, Skyscanner reports that it’s far from being the only misleadingly named airport out there.
With both ‘Paris’ and ‘Disney’ in the name, travellers might expect the airport to be located in the vicinity of either the French capital or Euro Disney. However, at 93 miles from Paris’ city centre, and 70 miles from Europe’s ‘Magic Kingdom’, Paris-Vatry Disney sets a new record in misleading airport nomenclature.
Many budget airlines use ‘secondary’ airports because of the lower operational costs compared to more central airports, which allows them to offer cheaper flights. However, some carriers have come under fire for giving airports misleading names, considering they can be miles away from the city they claim to serve.
Munich’s Memmingen airport is 70 miles from central Munich, Oslo Torp is 68 miles from central Oslo, and new easyJet base, London Southend, is 40 miles from the city centre (the same distance as London Stansted is from central London).
Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner Travel Editor, commented:
“Depending on your final destination, regional airports can be very convenient, but travellers wanting to reach city centre locations must factor in the time and transport costs of using a regional airport, and compare them to a more central airport. If you fly to an airport with Paris in its name, you would expect it to be somewhere near Paris, but 93 miles isn’t what most would call close. It’s the equivalent of wanting to fly to London, but actually landing in Northampton.”
Most misleadingly named airports
1. Paris-Vatry (Disney) – 93 miles (150km) from central Paris (and 70 miles (112km) from Disneyland Paris)
2. Munich West (Memmingen) – 70 miles (112km) from central Munich
3. Oslo (Torp) – 68 miles (110km) from central Oslo
4. Frankfurt (Hahn) – 68 miles (110km) from central Frankfurt
5. London (Oxford) – 60 miles (97km) from central London
6. Stockholm (Skavsta) – 59 miles (95km) from central Stockholm
7. Barcelona (Girona) – 58 miles (94km) from central Barcelona
8. Barcelona (Reus) – 58 miles (94km) from central Barcelona
9. Paris (Beauvais ) – 55miles (88km) from central Paris
10. Dusseldorf (Weeze) – 50 miles (80 km) from central Dusseldorf
11. London (Stansted) – 40 miles (64km) from central London
12. London (Southend) – 40 miles (64km) from central London
13. Tokyo (Narita) – 37 miles (60km) from central Tokyo
14. Verona (Brescia) – 33 miles (53km) from central Verona
15. Glasgow (Prestwick) – 32 miles (51km) from central Glasgow
Airports which really do serve their cites
1. Taipei Sungshan Airport – 3 miles (5km) from central Taipei
2. Salt Lake City Airport – 3 miles (5km) from central Salt Lake City
3. San Diego Airport – 3 miles (5km) from central San Diego
4. Tallinn Airport – 3 miles (5km) from central Tallinn
5. Belfast (George Best) – 3 miles (5km) from central Belfast
6. Wellington Airport – 4 miles (7km) from central Wellington
7. Honolulu Airport – 4 miles (7km) from central Honolulu
8. Lisbon Airport – 4 miles (7km) from central Lisbon
9. Bucharest Otopeni Airport – 4 miles (7km) from central Bucharest
10. Mexico City Juarez International – 4 miles (7km) from central Mexico
11. Cagliari Airport – 5 miles (9km) from central Cagliari
12. London City Airport – 6 miles (10km) from central London
13. Warsaw Airport – 6 miles (10km) from central Warsaw
14. Vancouver Airport – 8 miles (13km) from central Vancouver
15. Edinburgh Airport- 8 miles (13km) from central Edinburgh
