Airport codes: interpretation and application

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

What are airport codes? What are they needed for? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article. As soon as you decide to use the services of an airline to make a flight, you will have to buy a ticket for an aircraft that will take you to your destination. The ticket contains information about everything you need to know about your trip. On it you can also find the codes of air hubs.

Codes

What are airport codes for? There are two designs for assigning codes to air hubs - IATA in the international sense and ICAO in the entire territory of the Russian Federation. This means that each aerodrome has its own unique code, which consists of three (IATA) or four (ICAO) letters, according to the code assignment systems. Codes are assigned by specialized organizations.

Airport codes (ICAO and IATA) are used when sending information by air control authorities, scheduling flights, marking points of departure and arrival on tickets, as well as meteorological services. These codes are at the same time the label of each terminal in air navigation charts and in the telegraph network.air communications. Such a typified designation of air hubs is clear to everyone. Each passenger, looking into his ticket, can find out the address of departure and landing.

For example, the Domodedovo air hub is designated by the IATA code - DME, and the Sheremetyevo air hub - SVO. These marks can be found on airline tickets.

Transcript

IATA airport codes originated in the United States due to the fact that US pilots considered the previously existing two-letter codes unsuccessful for identifying air hubs.

Let's find out why the letters X or O appeared in the designations. The most exotic airport codes in the world are decoded as follows:

• YVR, Canada, Vancouver. Canadian hub codes begin with the letter Y. In this regard, the letter Y is placed before the expected VR.
• EWR, USA, Newark. The Newark hub code looks like EWR due to the fact that all codes that begin with the letter N are reserved for the US Navy.
• PDX, USA, Portland. Sometimes the letter X is added to the codes at the end when it is necessary to create a three-letter code from a two-letter code. Other air hubs use the letter X when the desired letter is already taken. Portland Terminal was formerly designated PD. After the introduction of three-letter designations, he received the PDX code. Some air hubs add other letters. So, for example, the San Francisco air harbor is identified by the letters SFO.
• PEK, China, Beijing. Sometimes the chronicle is reflected in the codes of air hubs. Today, the British call the city of Beijing Beijing, but earlier it was called Peking. The same thing happened with the air harbor code.the metropolitan area of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. Her code is BOM.
• ORD, USA, Chicago. Before being renamed in honor of Medal of Honor owner Edward O'Hare in 1949, the air gate was known as Orchard Field Airport.
• DCA, USA, Washington. In 1998, the Washington State Airport was named after former American President Ronald Reagan. The air harbor code reflects its location within the District of Columbia.
• TSE, Kazakhstan, Astana. In 1997, the city of Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan. In 1963, when the air gates were opened, the city was called Tselinograd.
• XRY, Spain, Jerez. The air hub is located in a place called Jerez, which is the birthplace of the famous fortified wine variety. The air harbor code came from the merger of the multiple spelling of the name of this metropolis (XERES) and the sherry wine variety.

ICAO code structure

Let's take a closer look at the ICAO air hub code (ICAO air hub index). This is a four-letter individual unique identifier assigned to the world's air harbors by the Transnational Civil Aviation Organization.

ICAO codes have a regional structure. The regional prefix is formed by the first two letters. The first letter identifies an area in the world - a part of a continent, a mainland (for example, L - Southern and Central Europe, E - Northern Europe) or a state with a large territory (C - Canada, K - the US continental zone, Y - Australia). The second letter definescountry in the area corresponding to the first letter. The remaining two (three for large countries) code letters identify the air hub in that state.

Today, every conceivable L-prefix is in use. The letters X, I, Q and J are not used as the first letter of the ICAO terminal code. The special code ZZZZ is reserved for use cases when creating a flight plan for an air harbor that does not have an ICAO code.

Nuances

In addition to the ICAO code, many air gates have an IATA code, a three-letter code assigned to air hubs around the world by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). It should not be confused with Airport City Code, a popular online game where you can earn money. In Canada and the US mainland, IATA hub codes are ICAO terminal codes without the first prefix letter. In other parts of the world (including the Hawaiian Islands, included in the United States, and Alaska), this is not the case.

Small sky gates (especially local airline terminals) may not have an IATA or ICAO code.

IATA airport codes are allocated in accordance with IATA Resolution No. 763. The headquarters of this department is located in Montreal. The list of applied codes is published by IATA twice a year on the official IATA website.