Rio de Janeiro: GIG's name change
 

GIG becomes Antonio-Carlos-Jobim-Airport (till now Galeao).

(Neue Zuercher Zeitung, jan-11-99)

And hopefully Paris-Orly will soon be renamed Michel Petrucciani airport :-(

And that only to confuse us more:

National Airport DC (DCA)- Now Ronald Reagan Airport
Aeroporto Internacional de Confins (CNF- Brazil)- Now Tancredo Neves International Airport

Why are they renaming Rio's Airport?

Sorry for my ignorance but My latin American history is very very poor.

OMNI FUNNY POSTING: Since they are renaming the airports I guess they can rename Newark Airport "Mark Blanchard International"
for the flyer who has faithfully used them for years and brought many New Yorkers there!
CATMAN

Antonio Carlos Jobim was a very successful composer and arranger of music. He composed and performed "The Girl From Ipanema" many years ago. (Ipanema is one of the beachfront sections of Rio de Janeiro.)

If I remember correctly the airport at Sao Paulo (or the older airport in Rio) is named after Santos-Dumont, an early Brazilian pioneer of flight.

Don't think they've named an airport after one Joao Santos do Nascimento -- better known worldwide as soccer's (football's) Pele -- yet!

As crazy as the Brazilians are for F-1 racing (me too me too), I'm surprised they don't have an airport named after Arton Senna. For those of you unfamiliar with F-1 racing, Senna was the best of his generation, tragically killed in an accident at Imola in Italy. Brazil had a three day national holiday in memoriam.

just my .02 worth...

Ayrton Senna was the greatest driver out there. I'm brazilian, so this is a little biased. But Ayrton Senna has a race track named after him.

Antonio Carlos Jobim was from Rio de Janeiro. A pioneer in the bossa nova and a great influence in late jazz compositions. Tragically for the family again, Tom Jobim's 18 year old son died in a car accident last year.

What a great way to remember Sr. Jobim! Anyone who can create something tangable (whether it's music, art, literature, something of beauty) deserves to be remembered.

Now I am ready for Jeopardy! CATMAN