Europe's 'most dangerous' airport renamed for Cristiano Ronaldo
Europe's 'most dangerous' airport renamed for Cristiano Ronaldo
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One of the world's most most dangerous airports has been rechristened in honour of one of its most famous football players.
So that's what you give the man who has everything.
Madeira International Airport, commonly cited as one of the world's most difficult (and scenic) landings due to its situation between mountains and sea, has been re-named 'Cristiano Ronaldo Airport' as a gift to the island's soccer superhero.
Ronaldo was born in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, in 1985.
The decision was announced by Miguel Albuquerque, President of the Regional Government of Madeira, at the opening of Ronaldo's first branded hotel, Pestana CR7, in the capital of Funchal this month.
Ronaldo, still only 31, now has a statue, museum, hotel and airport bearing his likeness, name or brand on the Portuguese archipelago.
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'Thanks Madiera,' the star tweeted afterwards, from a private jet.
Funchal's airport opened in 1964, with a runway as short as 1,600m. A TAP Boeing 727 overran the tarmac in 1977, killing 131 of the 164 people on board.
The most recent extension to the runway, in 2000, saw it lengthened by just over a kilometre using a platform built on 180 concrete pillars partly extending over the ocean.
A recent video posted by Ruptly TV, an international video news agency headquartered in Berlin, shows aircraft it says braved 49mph crosswinds to land (or pull out of landings) at the airport.
Ronaldo has been busy on and off the pitch in 2016 - opening the first of his hotels with the Pestana Group (future hotels are in the pipeline for New York, Madrid and Lisbon) and the CR7 Museum, as well as winning the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid and the Euro 2016 Championships with Portugal.
Wikipedia has already changed the title of Madeira International to 'Cristiano Ronaldo Airport'.
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