After years of fighting and litigation over who can include “Orlando” in the name of their central Florida airport, Orlando International Airport (MCO) officials and Orlando Melbourne International Airport (MLB) officials have tentatively agreed that Orlando Melbourne International Airport will change its name to Melbourne Orlando International Airport. You have to ask, was that really worth the time and money?

The Melbourne Airport Authority announced the Space Coast airport’s new name Friday. The name change was legally agreed upon to everyone’s mutual satisfaction in a consent and license agreement, officials said. It must be approved by both airport boards.

The newly renamed Melbourne Orlando International Airport began operations in 1928 as Melbourne International Airport changing its name in 2015 to Orlando Melbourne International Airport in an effort to attract more travellers. It is about 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of Orlando International Airport, which is the busiest airport in Florida.

Unsurprisingly, officials with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which operates the Orlando International Airport, took issue with the new name of the Orlando Melbourne International Airport and eventually filed a federal lawsuit in 2019. The lawsuit claimed the Orlando Melbourne International Airport was misleading passengers into believing they were going to the theme park mecca in the middle of the state instead of Florida’s Atlantic coast.

Apparently swapping the positioning of the two destination names resolves that issue .

One other point of interest … Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) is 24 miles from Orlando International Airport and was opened in 1971 several years before MCO was designated as a large hub airport by the FAA based on flight operations and passenger traffic in 1979.