Madeira airport to be named after Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo’s hometown of Madeira honoured the island’s favourite son by naming their international airport after the Portugal captain and Real Madrid star.

Miguel Albuquerque, president of the Regional Government, made the announcement on Friday following Portugal’s triumph at Euro 2016, with the Santa Catarina Airport in Funchal to be renamed the Cristiano Ronaldo Airport.

Ronaldo, 31, captained Portugal to their first major tournament title in France earlier this month, helping Fernando Santos and Co. to a 1-0 win over the host nation, despite suffering a knee injury in the final.

The announcement came on the same day former Manchester United forward and three-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo opened his own hotel in the city.

Ronaldo and Albuquerque attended the opening – the first in a global chain of hotels in a venture with Pestana Hotel Group, with locations in Lisbon, Madrid and New York set to follow.

“The first Pestana CR7 had to be in Funchal – my city that also is considered the best island by the World Travel Awards,” he said.

“It is a great pride for me – the opening of this my first hotel. It marks my entrance into a completely new area. This new project is going to be a huge success in the four corners of the world.”