There are a large number of airports all over the world, but it is almost impossible to remember the names of all airports. To this end, IATA (International Air Transport Association) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) have set aAirport code, It is not only convenient to remember, but also convenient to display on the ticket and airport screen.
IATA code
International Air Transport Association(International Air Transport Association) has designated aThree-letter code, For easy identification, this code is unique in the world. These codes are usually used when booking air tickets and checked baggage. Before traveling, it is very important to know the airport code of your destination because:
- Some large cities have multiple airports, and each airport may be far apart. Knowing the code can save you from unnecessary bumps. There are two international airports in Shanghai (Pudong International AirportwithHongqiao International Airport), there are three in London, if you do not distinguish clearly, it will be very troublesome.
- Some airlines use the airport code of a large city instead of the airport code of the actual destination. For example, Hahn in Germany is an obscure little city, but the airline will tell you that it is very close to Frankfurt. If you want to go to Hahn, you will order the airline's ticket, which is equivalent to increasing revenue for the airline.
- Some cities have the same name. For example, both Oregon and Maine in the United States have Portland. If you don’t distinguish the airport code, you will even have to cross the United States to find the correct destination.
- The names of some cities are not exactly the same as the names of the airports, such asShijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport. Zhengding County LiShijiazhuangThe city is very far away, and you may need to find it for a while if you are not familiar with the road.
- Some bus stops are sometimes named after the airport code. existBerlin, You can even say TXL directly to the taxi driver, and the other party will understand that you are going to the local Tegel Airport.
- Memorizing the airport code makes it easier for you to book tickets online and put stickers on your checked luggage.
The arrangement of IATA codes is not irregular. The romanized name of the city where the airport is located is used as the code for the first two digits, and the last digit is used as the alphabet for sorting. Airlines also have their own two-letter codes (for example: CA=Air China). Certain facilities not related to navigation (such as railway stations without air-rail intermodal transportation) may have codes, but they usually begin with Q, X, or Z.
The complete list of IATA codes can be found atRelated entries on Wikipedia。
ICAO code
International Civil Aviation Organization(International Civil Aviation Orgnization) is an affiliated organization of the United Nations, which provides four-letter codes for identification of civil aviation airports. ICAO codes are usually used by pilots to make flight plans and navigation, while IATA codes are generally used in civil areas such as flight schedules and consignment stickers. As a tourist, you are more likely to see the three-digit IATA code.
The complete ICAO code list can be found atRelated entries on Wikipedia。
Difference and connection
As mentioned above, IATA codes are usually designated by city names, while ICAO codes are assigned by region. This naming method may confuse travelers because the ICAO code is not the code on the ticket, and tourists without pilot training cannot guess the city where the airport is located from the ICAO code. ICAO codes are sometimes also used in railway stations, which can deepen tourists' doubts.
The IATA code usually hardly changes, and sometimes even if the Roman spelling of the city name is changed, the code does not change.Beijing Capital International AirportThe IATA code isPEKThis comes from the postal pinyin Peking of the word "Beijing", but the Roman spelling of "Beijing" has now been changed to the Chinese pinyin of Beijing. The ICAO code may change due to changes in the political situation. The IATA code of Berlin-Schonefeld Airport has always been SXF, but its ICAO code has been changed from ETBS to EDDB due to the reunification of the two Germanys.
In rare cases, some non-civilian airports without IATA codes have ICAO codes. For example, the area 51 military airport in Rachel, Nevada, whose ICAO code is KXTA, does not have an IATA code because of its military nature.
Area code
The two code systems mentioned above are universal identification codes, and there are also self-made simple codes in a country or even a carrier. It has long been known that Amtrak uses non-standard codes internally to refer to stations on self-operated railways. The relevant departments in some countries will assign codes to landing strips as small as a private airport—obviously. The airport will not have passengers, terminals, tickets or IATA codes.
In an emergency, or for some adventurers, landing on water is a good choice. Although IATA and ICAO do not specify codes for the water surface available for emergency landing, sometimes a slightly larger lake surface (called a "water landing site", water aerodrome) can allow the aircraft to land smoothly. Some airlines assign codes to these surfaces, but when they no longer need to land here, this code becomes invalid.