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How are IATA codes assigned to airlines?

IATA assigns a unique two-character code (Airline Designator Code) to all airlines – even the ones that aren't IATA members. It consists of 2 letters or a letter and a digit.



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Since the code contains only three letters, the possible combinations are limited and consequently the IATA codes are not unique in some cases, with the same code used to designate two different airports.

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The FAA is the governing body for aviation in the United States. FAA codes are more often than not the same as IATA codes, minus the first letter (usually K, unless in Hawaii, Alaska, or overseas territories), although there are some cases where IATA and FAA codes mean different airports altogether.

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The X in LAX
With the rapid growth in the aviation industry, in 1947, the identifiers expanded to three letters and LA received an extra letter to become LAX. The letter X does not otherwise have any specific meaning in this identifier.

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The airport designator code “MCO” comes from the former McCoy Air Force Base, named after Colonel Michael N. W. McCoy, on which site, located at -81.08W 28.96 N, and at 113 feet (34 meters) above sea level, Orlando International Airport now stands. Can I get a temporary disabled parking permit while in Orlando?

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(C) YYZ – Toronto Pearson International Airport As for the 'YZ' part, that dates all the way back to the Morse Code railway stations along the Canadian National Railway, which had two-letter identifiers. The code for the station in Malton, Ontario, was YZ, which is where Pearson sits today—hence YYZ.

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Lack of codes There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek, which use FAA codes instead.

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Both IATA and ICAO are international organizations that oversee civil aviation operations. However, the IATA generally supports the airline industry, while the ICAO provides global standards for air transport operations. Furthermore, the IATA uses a different list of airport codes that passengers can easily relate to.

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ORD – Chicago O'Hare “ORD” is a nod to the airfield's history, which started its life as Orchard Field Airport (OrchaRD) in 1945, at the site where Douglas Corporation had a wartime aircraft assembly plant. That name was short-lived. In 1949 the airport was renamed for Lt. Cmdr.

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The airport code is BNA, which stands for Berry Field Nashville in honor of Col. Harry S. Berry, administrator of the original airport project in the 1930s. The Nashville International Airport is located at One Terminal Drive, Nashville, TN 37214 - 8 miles east of downtown Nashville.

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When airport codes switched from two letters to three, the Navy reserved all codes starting with N. NEWaRk, then, used the other letters in its name to make EWR. SioUX City petitioned twice to have its airport code, SUX, changed. With no great alternatives, it stuck with it and now uses the slogan Fly SUX.

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Los Angeles International Airport, commonly referred to as LAX, is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area.

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The international airport of New Orleans was originally named Moisant Field and the MSY identification comes from the airport's origins as Moisant Stock Yards, the name given to the land where the U. S. aviator John Bevins Moisant (Illinois 1868 – New Orleans 1910) crashed where the airport was later built.

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For SFO, the most apparent fix was to add on an 'O. ' Hill resolved the mystery in his statement to Bay Curious: “So with SF, they simply took an 'O,' which we can assume was convenient to the fact that San Francisco has an 'O' at the end of it.”

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San Francisco International Airport (SFO), which is owned and operated by the City and is the principal commercial service airport for the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport remains the busiest airport in the world with 5.2 million seats in September 2023. The composition of the Global Top 10 Busiest Airports is also the same as last month but there are a few changes to the rankings.

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The states of Hawaii and Alaska append the letter “P” to indicate that they are in the ICAO pacific region. Anchorage is PANC in the ICAO system and Honolulu is PHNL.

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