DALLAS — Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini announced today that Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister and business magnate, will be honored by having Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) bear his name, according to a Reuters report.

Berlusconi was born in Milan, the nation's financial center, and went on to become a controversial figure in modern Italian politics known through extensive media coverage as a scandal-ridden prime minister.

During a meeting in southern Italy, Salvini, who is leader of the rightist League party and a long-time Berlusconi ally, announced that the Lombardy region, which surrounds Milan, had received approval of the obeisance from the Italian civil aviation authority to rename MXP in honor of Berlusconi.

The Italian media tycoon led four governments as the prime minister of Italy from 1994 to 2011 while leading his center-right Forza Italia party before passing away last year at the age of 86.

Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss canton Ticino.