Naming an airport

What’s in a name? Plenty if it’s a new airport. Three political parties are battling to have the under-construction New Bombay airport named after persons of their choosing. The Parsis, not to be outdone, have added their mite to the fight over the nomenclature.
Piloo Tata, whose husband Minocher’s grandmother was a sibling of Jamsetji Tata, told The Times of India (ToI) of June 18, 2021: "In memory of this undisputed pioneer of civil aviation in India (J. R. D. Tata), and in appreciation of the international passenger airline he started, I appeal to all the authorities concerned to name the new airport at New Bombay the J. R. D. Tata International Airport… His name should be remembered and linked with Indian civil aviation forever… I cannot think of any other name which would be more appropriate.” In 1932, JRD flew from Karachi to Bombay, sowing the seeds for India’s airline industry.
Noting that in India "not a single airport is named after an aviation pioneer,” the ToI enumerated airports around the world named after flight pioneers like the Wright Brothers (Dayton airport) and Amelia Earhart (Atchison-Kansas). Sydney’s Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith airport is named after the individual who operated the first US-Australia trans-Pacific flight while Lyon airport takes its name from Antoine De Saint-Exupery who pioneered international postal flights.

A petition of September 11, 2018 attributed to one Rustom Doctor on www.change.org and which resurfaced in June 2021 on social media pleads: "I would request everyone to support that New Bombay Airport be named as J. R. D. Tata International Airport. (He) was known as the father of Indian civil aviation. He was the founder of India’s first commercial airlines, Tata Airlines in 1932, which was later changed to Air India in 1946.” Change.org is a petition website with over 400 million users, according to Wikipedia.
While the ruling Shiv Sena has been pushing to name the new airport after party founder Balasaheb Thackeray, The Hindu (TH) reported on June 21, 2021 that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray (cousin of state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray) stated: "After completion of the new project, the New Bombay airport will act as an extension of the already existing Bombay International Airport. Where does the issue of changing name come up? It will remain as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Navi Mumbai International airport.” TH reported that "last month a group of locals, backed by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, launched an agitation demanding that (the airport) be named after D. B. Patil, veteran leader of project affected people from the New Bombay area… Patil is also considered one of the tallest leaders of local Agri and Koli communities, who command considerable political clout.”
Meanwhile, the green lobby has yet another angle. Environmental lobbyist and head of Nat Connect Foundation B. N. Kumar told ToI on June 24: "Besides the sons of the soil, New Bombay birds like flamingos have also been dislodged from the airport project… So, why not name the new airport after flamingos? That will also end the naming controversy.”
With the 11.6 sq km site located approximately 35 km from the current Bombay airport, the second terminal will reportedly be able to progressively handle up to 90 million passengers annually. The project was initially to be executed by a special purpose entity formed by the GVK group and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). GVK was taken over by Adani Airport Holdings who will now execute and operate the project. The airport is expected to be fully operational by 2023.