International Civil Aviation Organization airport code

The ICAO ( /ˌˌkˈ/, "I-K-O") airport code or location indicator is a four-character alphanumeric code designating each airport around the world. These codes are defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization, and published in ICAO Document 7910: Location Indicators.

The ICAO codes are used by air traffic control and airline operations such as flight planning. They are not the same as the IATA codes encountered by the general public, which are used for airline timetables, reservations, and baggage handling. IATA codes are usually derived from the name of the airport or the city it serves, while ICAO codes are distributed by region and country. For example, travellers who use London's Heathrow Airport will most likely be familiar with its IATA code: LHR. They are less likely, however, to be familiar with the ICAO code: EGLL.

ICAO codes are also used to identify other locations such as weather stations, International Flight Service Stations or Area Control Centers, whether or not they are located at airports.

Contents

History

World War II caused a great increase in international flying which sparked concerns over safety and communication. After the war, under the auspices of the UN, regions were defined for the purposes of controlling traffic and making airport identification simple and clear. The regions were given the name FIR (Flight Information Region).

Since the Allied military had done so much of the long-range wartime flying, English became the primary language of international air traffic control. Allied influence also had a hand in some of the code selections. There was also the influence of existing national radio station codes. For example, stations in Canada were already starting with "C", so it seemed logical to begin Canadian airport identifiers that way, such as CYQM for Moncton. Most other identifiers have less recognizable phonetic connection.

Europe was going to be "E", but there were too many locations for only one starting letter. So "E" became mostly northern Europe, with the second letter defining further; EGxx for Great Britain, EDxx for Deutschland, etc. "L" became lower Europe, such as LFxx for France, although France could be thought of as both northern and southern.

The United States had a peculiar situation in that there were already two letters being used to begin radio station identifiers. "W" (from Westinghouse) for stations east of the Mississippi, and "K" for those west. The K was selected for ICAO codes. FIR and ICAO regions do not always use the same boundaries, but they are sometimes close.

Structure

Unlike the IATA codes, the ICAO codes have a regional structure (they are broken up by 'sections' of the world), are not duplicated, and are comprehensive. In general, the first letter is allocated by continent and represents a country or group of countries within that continent. The second letter generally represents a country within that region, and the remaining two are used to identify each airport. The exception to this rule is larger countries that have single-letter country codes, where the remaining three letters identify the airport. In either case, ICAO codes provide geographical context unlike IATA codes. Using the earlier example as Heathrow airport, if one knows that the ICAO code for Heathrow is EGLL, then one can deduce that the airport EGNH is somewhere in the UK (it is Blackpool International Airport). On the other hand, knowing that the IATA code for Heathrow is LHR does not enable one to deduce the location of the airport LHV with any greater certainty (it is William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania in the United States).

The letters I, J and X are not currently used as the first letter of any ICAO identifier. Q is reserved for international radiocommunications and other non-geographical special uses (see Q code).

In the contiguous United States and Canada, most, but not all, airports have been assigned three-letter IATA codes which are the same as their ICAO code without the leading K or C. e.g., YYC and CYYC (Calgary International Airport, Calgary, Alberta), IAD and KIAD (Washington Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia). These codes are not to be confused with radio or television call signs, even though both countries use four-letter call signs starting with those letters. However, because Alaska, Hawaii and United States territories have their own 2-letter ICAO prefix, the situation there is similar to other smaller countries and the ICAO code of their airports is typically different from its corresponding 3-letter FAA/IATA identifier. For example, Hilo International Airport (PHTO vs ITO) and Juneau International Airport (PAJN vs JNU).

In region L (Southern Europe), all available 2-letter prefixes have been exhausted and thus no additional countries can be added.

ZZZZ is a special code which is used when no ICAO code exists for the airport and is normally used in flight plans.

A list of airports, sorted by ICAO code, is available below.

Prefixes

Prefix code Country
A - Western South Pacific
AG Solomon Islands
AN Nauru
AY Papua New Guinea
B - Iceland/Greenland and Kosovo
BG Greenland
BI Iceland
BK Kosovo
C - Canada
C Canada
D - West Africa
DA Algeria
DB Benin
DF Burkina Faso
DG Ghana
DI Côte d'Ivoire
DN Nigeria
DR Niger
DT Tunisia
DX Togolese Republic
E - Northern Europe
EB Belgium
ED Germany (civil)
EE Estonia
EF Finland
EG United Kingdom
EH Netherlands
EI Ireland
EK Denmark
EL Luxembourg
EN Norway
EP Poland
ES Sweden
ET Germany (military)
EV Latvia
EY Lithuania
F - Southern Africa
FA South Africa
FB Botswana
FC Republic of the Congo
FD Swaziland
FE Central African Republic
FG Equatorial Guinea
FH Ascension Island
FI Mauritius
FJ British Indian Ocean Territory
FK Cameroon
FL Zambia
FM Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, Réunion
FN Angola
FO Gabon
FP São Tomé and Príncipe
FQ Mozambique
FS Seychelles
FT Chad
FV Zimbabwe
FW Malawi
FX Lesotho
FY Namibia
FZ Democratic Republic of the Congo
G - Northwestern Africa
GA Mali
GB The Gambia
GC Canary Islands (Spain)
GE Ceuta and Melilla (Spain)
GF Sierra Leone
GG Guinea-Bissau
GL Liberia
GM Morocco
GO Senegal
GQ Mauritania
GS Western Sahara
GU Guinea
GV Cape Verde
H - Northeastern Africa
HA Ethiopia
HB Burundi
HC Somalia (including Somaliland because of disputes)
HD Djibouti (also HF)
HE Egypt
HF Djibouti (also HD)
HH Eritrea
HK Kenya
HL Libya
HR Rwanda
HS Sudan and South Sudan
HT Tanzania
HU Uganda
K - United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii)
K Contiguous United States
L - Southern Europe, Israel and Turkey
LA Albania
LB Bulgaria
LC Cyprus
LD Croatia
LE Spain
LF France, including Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
LG Greece
LH Hungary
LI Italy
LJ Slovenia
LK Czech Republic
LL Israel
LM Malta
LN Monaco
LO Austria
LP Portugal, including the Azores
LQ Bosnia and Herzegovina
LR Romania
LS Switzerland
LT Turkey
LU Moldova
LV Areas Under the Control of the Palestinian Authority
LW Macedonia
LX Gibraltar
LY Serbia and Montenegro
LZ Slovakia
M - Central America and Mexico
MB Turks and Caicos Islands
MD Dominican Republic
MG Guatemala
MH Honduras
MK Jamaica
MM Mexico
MN Nicaragua
MP Panama
MR Costa Rica
MS El Salvador
MT Haiti
MU Cuba
MW Cayman Islands
MY Bahamas
MZ Belize
N - South Pacific
NC Cook Islands
NF Fiji, Tonga
NG Kiribati (Gilbert Islands), Tuvalu
NI Niue
NL France (Wallis and Futuna)
NS Samoa, USA (American Samoa)
NT France (French Polynesia)
NV Vanuatu
NW France (New Caledonia)
NZ New Zealand, Antarctica
O - Southwest Asia (excluding Israel and Turkey)
OA Afghanistan
OB Bahrain
OE Saudi Arabia
OI Iran
OJ Jordan and the West Bank
OK Kuwait
OL Lebanon
OM United Arab Emirates
OO Oman
OP Pakistan
OR Iraq
OS Syria
OT Qatar
OY Yemen
P - Eastern North Pacific
PA USA (Alaska only)
PB USA (Baker Island)
PC Kiribati (Canton Airfield, Phoenix Islands)
PF USA (Fort Yukon, Alaska)
PG USA (Guam, Northern Marianas)
PH USA (Hawaii only)
PJ USA (Johnston Atoll)
PK USA (Marshall Islands)
PL Kiribati (Line Islands)
PM USA (Midway Island)
PO USA (Oliktok Point, Alaska)
PP USA (Point Lay, Alaska)
PT Federated States of Micronesia, Palau
PW USA (Wake Island)
R - Western North Pacific
RC Republic of China (Taiwan)
RJ Japan (most of country)
RK South Korea
RO Japan (Okinawa Prefecture and Yoron)
RP Philippines
S - South America
SA Argentina
SB Brazil (also SD, SI, SJ, SN, SS and SW)
SC Chile
SD Brazil (also SB, SI, SJ, SN, SS and SW)
SE Ecuador
SF UK (Falkland Islands)
SG Paraguay
SI Brazil (also SB, SD, SJ, SN, SS and SW)
SJ Brazil (also SB, SD, SI, SN, SS and SW)
SK Colombia
SL Bolivia
SM Suriname
SN Brazil (also SB, SD, SI, SJ, SS and SW)
SO French Guiana
SP Peru
SS Brazil (also SB, SD, SI, SJ, SN and SW)
SU Uruguay
SV Venezuela
SW Brazil (also SB, SD, SI, SJ, SN and SS)
SY Guyana
T - Caribbean
TA Antigua and Barbuda
TB Barbados
TD Dominica
TF France (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin)
TG Grenada
TI USA (U.S. Virgin Islands)
TJ USA (Puerto Rico)
TK Saint Kitts and Nevis
TL Saint Lucia
TN Caribbean Netherlands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten
TQ UK (Anguilla)
TR UK (Montserrat)
TT Trinidad and Tobago
TU UK (British Virgin Islands)
TV Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
TX UK (Bermuda)
U - Russia and former Soviet States
U Russia (except UA, UB, UD, UG, UK, UM and UT)
UA Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
UB Azerbaijan
UD Armenia
UG Georgia
UK Ukraine
UM Belarus and Kaliningrad, Russia
UT Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
V - South Asia (except Pakistan), mainland Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau
VA India (West Zone, Mumbai Center)
VC Sri Lanka
VD Cambodia
VE India (East Zone, Kolkata Center)
VG Bangladesh
VH Hong Kong
VI India (North Zone, Delhi Center)
VL Laos
VM Macau
VN Nepal
VO India (South Zone, Chennai Center)
VQ Bhutan
VR Maldives
VT Thailand
VV Vietnam
VY Myanmar
W - Maritime Southeast Asia (except the Philippines)
WA Indonesia (also WI, WQ and WR)
WB Malaysia (East Malaysia), Brunei
WI Indonesia (also WA, WQ and WR)
WM Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia)
WP Timor-Leste
WQ Indonesia (also WA, WI and WR)
WR Indonesia (also WA, WI and WQ)
WS Singapore
Y - Australia
Y Australia
Z - East Asia (excluding Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, South Korea and Taiwan)
Z People's Republic of China (except ZK and ZM)
ZK North Korea
ZM Mongolia

See also

References

External links