Airports And Their Codes: A Comprehensive Overview

Airport codes are three- or four-letter codes used to identify a particular airport. There are two main types of airport codes: IATA (International Air Transport Association) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). There are over 17,000 possible code combinations and currently approximately 11,300 codes are assigned.

There are 8,965 airport codes, according to IATA

The three-letter IATA codes allow for a total of 17,576 unique location codes. IATA has administered over 11,000 location codes worldwide, with 8,965 of these being airport codes. The remaining codes are assigned to bus stations, rail stations, heliports, and ferry ports.

IATA codes are primarily used for commercial airline purposes, such as scheduling, ticketing, and baggage handling. They are issued at the request of an airline or airlines. Every airport in the world is assigned an IATA code.

ICAO codes are used for flight operations purposes by air traffic control. ICAO codes are useful because there are around 40,000 airports in the world, and only a little over 17,000 possible IATA code combinations.

ICAO codes are four letters

There are two main types of airport codes: IATA (International Air Transport Association) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). IATA codes are three-letter codes used to refer to the majority of commercial airports worldwide. There are over 17,000 possible combinations of IATA codes, and currently, approximately 11,000 codes are assigned.

ICAO codes, on the other hand, are four-letter codes. They are less common and are used to refer to airports that haven't been given an IATA code. ICAO codes are primarily used for flight operations purposes by air traffic control. Every airport in the world is assigned an ICAO code, even if they also have an IATA code.

ICAO codes are particularly useful when it comes to barely used airstrips besides commercial airports. For example, the airport in Basel has two airport codes, MLH and BSL, with the megacode EAP. This is because of cooperation between France and Switzerland, both of which used half of the airport, and hence two codes were needed. Nowadays, the airport acts as one entity, so these two codes don't really matter.

In summary, while IATA codes are the most common type of airport code, ICAO codes serve an important purpose by providing a way to identify airports that don't have an IATA code.

Megacodes for megacities

There are over 17,000 possible airport code combinations, with around 11,300 codes currently assigned. These are three- or four-letter codes used to identify a particular airport. Three-letter codes are primarily used for commercial airline purposes, such as scheduling, ticketing and baggage handling, while four-letter codes are used for flight operations by air traffic control.

Every airport in the world is assigned a three-letter code from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and a four-letter code from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). However, there are around 40,000 airports in the world, so not all have been assigned an IATA code.

'Megacodes' are overarching codes for multiple airports in a city. For example, London has six airports, four of which start with 'L' and two of which start with 'S', but the megacode 'LON' can be used for all of them.

IATA codes are also assigned to bus, rail, helicopter, and ferry terminals

There are 17,576 possible three-letter IATA codes, of which there are currently around 11,000 in use. IATA codes are used to identify airports, but they are also assigned to bus, rail, helicopter, and ferry terminals. This is because these terminals codeshare with airlines for ticketing and baggage transfers.

IATA codes are used for commercial airline purposes, such as scheduling, ticketing and baggage handling, and are issued at the request of an airline. There are 8,965 airport codes, followed by 235 bus stations, 816 rail stations, 151 heliports, and 64 ferry ports.

ICAO codes, on the other hand, are four-letter codes used to refer to airports that haven't been given an IATA code. They are also used by air traffic control officials. ICAO codes are more useful for barely used airstrips and smaller airports.

IATA codes are primarily used for commercial airline purposes

There are 8,965 airport codes, according to IATA (International Air Transport Association). These are three-letter codes used to refer to the majority of commercial airports worldwide. They are also assigned to bus, rail, helicopter and ferry terminals that codeshare with airlines for ticketing and baggage transfers.

There are over 17,000 possible code combinations, and currently, approximately 11,300 codes are assigned. IATA codes are used for commercial airline purposes, while ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) codes are used for flight operations purposes by air traffic control.

Every airport in the world is assigned a three-letter IATA code and a four-letter ICAO code. ICAO codes are used for airports that haven't been given an IATA code, as well as by air traffic control officials.

The three letters of IATA codes can form a little over 17,000 combinations, while there are around 40,000 airports. ICAO codes are useful for covering barely used airstrips besides commercial airports.

Frequently asked questions