Birmingham Airport CEO grounds idea to rename it after Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne speaks onstage during the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 19, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

If you ever find yourself flying into Birmingham, England, you won’t be landing at Ozzy Osbourne Airport.

Despite a petition to rename it after the late metal legend and Birmingham hometown hero, the airport’s CEO, Nick Barton, tells BBC Radio WM it’s not going to happen.

“Birmingham, amazingly, has an extraordinary list of fantastically influential people, going from historic people like Charles Darwin, as well as Robert Plant and Sir Lenny Henry but the answer is no,” Barton says. “The airport name is so important for our future development of what we’ve got, which is a fantastic airport, but yet to grow significantly, which we will do on the back of its name.”

The airport’s current name is simply Birmingham Airport and uses the code BHX. And while it won’t be named after Ozzy, the airport plans to celebrate the Prince of Darkness and other famed Brummies with a mural.

Ozzy did also just posthumously receive another Birmingham honor, the Lord Mayor’s Award, on what would’ve been his 77th birthday Wednesday.