A Confusing Name Change? - 1996-05-06

<H1>A Confusing Name Change?</H1><H3>by Rowland Stiteler</H3><I>Orlando </I>- Central Florida now has two international airports with the word "Orlando" in their name, although board members of the original one, Orlando International Airport, are unhappy about sharing the moniker and even have discussed suing their new competitor.

Last year, officials at Sanford Airport, a former naval air station about 30 miles north of downtown Orlando, decided to change the facility's name to Sanford Orlando Airport to increase its marketability to European travelers and to clarify its location. Recently, the facility has developed a hot air-charter clientele, with a significant passenger load from the Continent.

Members of the Orlando International Airport Board, however, believed that the name change would confuse passengers into thinking that Sanford Airport was really Orlando Airport. But after a meeting with its lawyers, the Orlando International Board decided to hold off on bringing a lawsuit to see if travelers actually do get confused.

That won't happen for a while: Sanford Orlando Airport is an all-charter and general aviation airport. It recently landed a deal with charter airline Britannia Airways, which shifted its 20 weekly flights from Orlando International.

Over the past year, Britannia has brought about 225,000 charter passengers to Orlando. In addition, other charter services, wooed by Sanford Orlando's low operating costs, have expressed interest in moving their operations to the airport, which recently opened a new terminal building and has a new control tower. A second terminal building is scheduled to open over the next 18 months.

Even with all the new activity, Sanford Orlando will be handling well under a million passengers a year. In contrast, Orlando International Airport handles about 2 million passengers a month.