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Millions of passengers are attracted to flights because they assume the airport name reflects its location. In fact, there doesn't have to be any connection whatsoever.

Latest in on the act is an aerodrome at Kidlington, which hit the headlines by revealing that it is now London Oxford Airport.

The trend has not gone unnoticed at the Dover headquarters of P&O Ferries. "The imagination applied to airport names is pure genius," said spokesman Brian Rees.

"Frankfurt Hahn is nowhere near Frankfurt, and Barcelona Girona isn't exactly handy for Barcelona. Oslo Torp is a heck of a journey from Oslo. To be fair, London Ashford Lydd Airport is close to Ashford and Lydd and just 70 miles from London."

A tongue in cheek Mr Rees said the ferry industry may be missing a trick. "By airline standards the nation's busiest passenger port is a stone's throw from one of the most exciting capital cities on the planet. Perhaps we should be saying welcome to ParisDoverPort."