Airline codes-W

Contents

A list of all Airline codes. The table lists the IATA airline designators, the ICAO airline designators and the airline call signs (telephony designator). Historical assignments are also included for completeness.

Airline codes for airlines beginning with:

All0–9ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV – W – XYZ

IATA airline designator

IATA airline designators, sometimes called IATA reservation codes, are two-character codes assigned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to the world's airlines in accordance with the provisions of IATA Resolution 762. They form the first two characters of the flight number.

Designators are used to identify an airline for all commercial purposes, including reservations, timetables, tickets, tariffs, air waybills, and in airline interline telecommunications. There are three types of designator: unique, alpha/numeric, and controlled duplicate.

IATA maintains two policies to deal with the limited number of available codes:

  1. after an airline is delisted, the code becomes available for reuse after six months;
  2. IATA issues "controlled duplicates".

Controlled duplicates are issued to regional airlines whose destinations are not likely to overlap, in such a way that the same code would be shared by two different airlines. The controlled duplicate is denoted here with an asterisk (*) following the code and in IATA literature as well.

ICAO airline designator

The ICAO airline designator is a code assigned by the International Civil Aviation Organization to aircraft operating agencies, aeronautical authorities, and services. The codes are unique by airline which is not true for the IATA airline designator codes.

Each aircraft operating agency, aeronautical authority, and services related to international aviation is allocated both a three-letter designator and a telephony designator. The designators are listed in ICAO Document 8585: Designators for Aircraft Operating Agencies, Aeronautical Authorities and Services.

An example is:

Certain combinations of letters are not allocated to avoid confusion with other systems (for example SOS). Other designators (particularly those starting with Y and Z) are reserved for government organizations.

Designator YYY is used for operators that do not have a code allocated.

Call signs

Most airlines employ a distinctive and internationally recognized call sign that is normally spoken during airband radio transmissions as a prefix to the flight number. The flight number is normally then published in their public timetable and appears on the arrivals and departure screens in the airport terminals served by that particular flight. In cases of emergency, the airline name and flight number, rather than the individual aircraft's registration, are normally mentioned by the main news media.

Some call signs are less obviously associated with a particular airline than others. This might be for historic reasons, or possibly to avoid confusion with a call sign used by an established airline.

Not all of these operators of aircraft are civilian and some only operate ad hoc chartered flights rather than scheduled flights; some operate both types of flights. Some cargo airlines specialize in freight transport, an emphasis that may be reflected in the company's name.

Clearly companies' names will change over time, normally due to bankruptcies or mergers occurring. Country names can also change over time and new call signs may be agreed in substitution for traditional ones. The country shown alongside an airline's call sign is that wherein most of its aircraft are believed to be registered, which may not always be the same as the country in which the firm is officially incorporated or registered. There are many other airlines in business whose radio call signs are more obviously derived from the trading name.

The callsign should normally resemble the operators name or function and not be confused with callsigns used by other operators. The callsign should be easily and phonetically pronounceable in at least English, French, Spanish or Russian.

Codes

Airline codes
IATA ICAO Airline Call Sign Country Comments
W1 WDL WDL Aviation WDL Germany
WRR WRA Inc WRAP AIR United States
XWS WSI Corporation United States
CGG Walmart Aviation CHARGE United States
WAS Walsten Air Services WALSTEN Canada
GOT WaltAir GOTHIC Sweden
WPT Wapiti Aviation WAPITI Canada
WAV Warbelow's Air Ventures WARBELOW United States
ATX Warwickshire Aerocentre Ltd. AIRTAX United Kingdom
WT WSG Wasaya Airways WASAYA Canada
7W Wayraperú WAYRAPERÚ Peru
WTC Weasua Air Transport Company WATCO Liberia
WH WEB WebJet Linhas Aéreas WEB-BRASIL Brazil
TDB Welch Aviation THUNDER BAY United States
2W WLC Welcome Air WELCOMEAIR Austria
BLW Wermlandsflyg AB BLUESTAR Sweden
WCB West Africa Airlines KILO YANKEE Ghana
WTF West African Air Transport WESTAF AIRTRANS Senegal
WZ WSF West African Airlines Benin
WAC West African Cargo Airlines WESTAF CARGO Mauritania
WLX West Air Luxembourg WEST LUX Luxembourg
PT SWN West Air Sweden AIR SWEDEN Sweden
YH WCW West Caribbean Airways WEST Colombia
WCR West Caribbean Costa Rica WEST CARIBBEAN Costa Rica
8O YWZ West Coast Air COAST AIR Canada
West Coast Airlines United States
WCG West Coast Airlines WHISKY INDIA Ghana
WCA West Coast Airways WEST-LEONE Sierra Leone
TEE West Freugh DTEO TEEBIRD United Kingdom
WEW West Wind Aviation WESTWIND Canada
WS WJA WestJet WESTJET Canada
WAA Westair Aviation WESTAIR WINGS Namibia
WSC Westair Cargo Airlines WESTCAR Cote d'Ivoire
PCM Westair Industries PAC VALLEY United States
BLK Westcoast Energy BLUE FLAME Canada
XP CXP Western RUBY MOUNTAIN
WST Western Air WESTERN BAHAMAS Bahamas
NPC Western Air Couriers NORPAC United States
WAE Western Air Express WESTERN EXPRESS United States
WA WAL Western Airlines WESTERN United States defunct
WAL Western Arctic Air WESTERN ARCTIC Canada
WTV Western Aviators WESTAVIA United States
WES Western Express Air Lines WEST EX Canada
KMR Western Pacific Airlines KOMSTAR United States
WPA Western Pacific Airservice WESTPAC Solomon Islands
WSL Westflight Aviation WEST LINE United Kingdom
WSA Westgates Airlines WESTATES United States
WHE Westland Helicopters WESTLAND United Kingdom
WTP Westpoint Air WESTPOINT Canada
CN WWD Westward Airways WESTWARD United States
WHT White WHITEJET Portugal
WEA White Eagle Aviation WHITE EAGLE Poland
WRA White River Air Services Canada
WWL Whyalla Airlines Australia
WF WIF Widerøe WIDEROE Norway
WIG Wiggins Airways WIGGINS AIRWAYS United States
WHS Wiking Helikopter Service WEEKING Germany
WFO Wilbur's Flight Operations WILBURS United States
WLS Williams Air WILLIAMS AIR United States
WGP Williams Grand Prix Engineering GRAND PRIX United Kingdom
WDA Wimbi Dira Airways WIMBI DIRA Democratic Republic of Congo
WNA Winair WINAIR United States
IV JET Wind Jet GHIBLI Italy
WSI Wind Spirit Air WIND SPIRIT United States
QGA Windrose Air QUADRIGA Germany
WIA Windward Islands Airways International WINDWARD Netherland
1W WON Wings Air WINGS ABADI Indonesia Subsidiary of Lion Air
WAT Wings Air Transport Sudan
WAW Wings Airways WING SHUTTLE United States
WOL Wings Aviation WINGJET Guyana
WEX Wings Express WINGS EXPRESS United States
K5 WAK Wings of Alaska WINGS ALASKA United States
WLB Wings of Lebanon Aviation WING LEBANON Lebanon
WIN Winlink WINLINK Saint Lucia
WAG Wisconsin Air National Guard United States
WSM Wisman Aviation WISMAN United States
W6 WVL Wizz Air WIZZBUL Bulgaria
WZZ Wizz Air Hungary WIZZAIR Hungary
WNR Wondair on Demand Aviation WONDAIR Spain
CWY Woodgate Executive Air Charter CAUSEWAY United Kingdom
WO WOA World Airways WORLD United States
XWW World Weatherwatch Canada
WWM World Wing Aviation MANAS WING Kyrgyzstan
1P Worldspan United States
CSW Worldwide Air Charter Systems CHARTER SYSTEMS Canada
WWS Worldwide Aviation Services Pakistan
WWI Worldwide Jet Charter WORLDWIDE United States
WRT Wright Air Lines WRIGHT-AIR United States
8V WRF Wright Air Service WRIGHT FLYER United States
CWU Wuhan Airlines WUHAN AIR China
WYC Wycombe Air Centre WYCOMBE United Kingdom
WYG Wyoming Airlines WYOMING United States
KW WAN Wataniya Airways WATANIYA Kuwait
3W* VNR Wanair WANAIR French Polynesia

* on IATA code indicates a controlled duplicate.

italics indicates a defunct airline.

See also

References

External links