Nashville Airport to Be Renamed for Dolly Parton
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport have announced plans to rename the airport in honour of Dolly Parton, three days after the singer's death on 25 August 2026 following a brief battle with cancer, as confirmed by her team. The airport, currently known by its code BNA, would become Dolly Parton International Airport.
Governor Lee proposed the renaming on 28 August in partnership with the Metro Nashville Airport Authority, or MNAA, the body that operates the airport. The MNAA published the announcement on its official website, flynashville.com, the same day.
Public support for the idea had been building before the official announcement. A Change.org petition calling for the airport to carry Parton's name had collected more than 164,000 signatures as of 29 August, according to Billboard. A separate report from the Chosun Ilbo noted that the petition had surpassed 155,000 signatures — a threshold that, if the renaming goes ahead, would make BNA the first top-50 U.S. airport named after a woman.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell voiced his support for the renaming, referencing Parton's planned SongTeller hotel and museum project in the city. Doug Kreulen, president and CEO of the MNAA, described BNA as "the front door to Music City."
The formal mechanics are still to be worked through. The MNAA's naming policy and Governor Lee's renaming proposal are scheduled for discussion at a meeting on 17 September 2026, Billboard reported. That meeting will determine the procedural path for making the name change official.
Parton, born in 1946 in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, was one of the most decorated figures in country music — a songwriter, performer, actor and philanthropist whose career spanned more than six decades. Her Imagination Library, founded in 1995, has donated more than 250 million books to children. Her connection to Tennessee, and to Nashville specifically as the capital of country music, is what the airport renaming is meant to mark.
For travellers landing in Nashville, the rename would make that connection literal. The first thing they see would carry her name.
