Where is XHQ ??

[gpuk]

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me anything about XHQ? I think it's an airport in or near Hopa, Turkey but I can't find any info on it. I know BUS is nearby but I don't think it's the same airport (since BUS is in Georgia).

I think Pegasus Airlines operate flights from/to there.

Any help appreciated!

[barry lloyd]

Batum-Hopa airport on the Black Sea Coast of Turkey. Not a million miles from Batumi in Georgia, which could account for any confusion.

There are flights from there, but I think they're seasonal, and since there are relatively few flights out of Batumi, it's probably used by Georgians as well as Turks.

[gpuk]

Thanks Barry.

Weird that there's virtually no info on google about this airport. I was trying to figure out its icao and runway length. I can't even find it on google maps!

[Flying Wild]

maybe try this... Let me google that for you (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=xhq+iata)

[jabird]

There are flights from there, but I think they're seasonal, and since there are relatively few flights out of Batumi, it's probably used by Georgians as well as Turks.

Not sure that Turkey's eastern borders are the easiest to cross?

[barry lloyd]

Done it myself a couple of times. Relatively problem-free as land border crossings go. It's a very busy crossing actually, but a lot of what crosses is not trade in the conventional sense, if you get my drift...

[DaveReidUK]

Batum-Hopa airport on the Black Sea Coast of Turkey. Not a million miles from Batumi in Georgia, which could account for any confusion.

That's because they are one and the same place.

It's not unknown for IATA to assign two codes to the same airport, particularly when it serves two countries - Basel/Mulhouse being the obvious example.

[AGPwallah]

lowcostroutes.com show Batumi as being 69km from Batum-Hopa.

AGP

[DaveReidUK]

lowcostroutes.com show Batumi as being 69km from Batum-Hopa.

A lot closer than Frankfurt-Hahn to Frankfurt, then. :O

Edit: Takes about an hour on the bus, apparently. Maybe they'll build an airport that's closer one day.

[gpuk]

@Flying Wild: yes, but have you actually read through those results? They're all useless.

[gpuk]

@DaveReidUK: is it safe to assume they are one and the same? I think they must be since I've done some extensive google earth scouting around Hopa and can't see a runway anywhere nearby other than Batumi (BUS).

[Ernest Lanc's]

Airports near Batum - Hopa

Batumi (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Batumi) at 69km
Kutaisi (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Kutaisi) at 143km
Trabzon (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Trabzon) at 143km
Erzurum (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Erzurum) at 160km
Kars (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Kars) at 165km

You can fly to the UK from Batum Hopa..

Fly low cost from Batum - Hopa to UK: London Stansted (STN)

Low cost flights from Batum - Hopa airport (XHQ), Turkey - cheap airlines (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Batum_Hopa)

Lots of internal routes..The only airline seems to be 'Pagasus'

Low cost flights from Batum - Hopa airport (XHQ), Turkey to Turkey - cheap airlines (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Batum_Hopa__to_Turkey)

Hava (http://www.havas.net/en/shuttle-parking/hopa/)

Where is it? These may help.

KIRMIZI BAYKU (http://www.kirmizibaykus.com/tag/hopa/)

This will need translating: KIRMIZI BAYKU (http://www.kirmizibaykus.com/tag/hopa/)

Batum / Hopa Seferleri Ba (http://www.airportsladies.com/tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=585%3Abatum-hopa-seferleri-balyor&catid=56%3Ahavayollar&Itemid=79)

I have read somewhere this airport is a remnant of the Soviet Union..

[DaveReidUK]

Fly low cost from Batum - Hopa to UK: London Stansted (STN)

Doh.

Go onto the Pegasus website and try to book a flight from Stansted to Hopa.

You will get a helpful popup telling you:

"Flights booked to Hopa terminate at Batumi, from which there is a bus continuing onto Hopa. Guests who book tickets for Hopa cannot enter Batumi".

:ugh:

[Ernest Lanc's]

"Flights booked to Hopa terminate at Batumi, from which there is a bus continuing onto Hopa. Guests who book tickets for Hopa cannot enter Batumi".


So?...I copied and pasted what I read..Barumi is only 69km from Hopa anyway.

Seen that pop up, and to me the second part of the pop up is unclear..

Does not really matter or rate a "Doh"...I was merely trying to find what Hopa was and where it was..

[gpuk]

Hi Ernest,

I've seen the same info you pasted from lowcostroutes.com (since they're pretty much the only site that has an entry for XHQ) but I've got a feeling their database isn't accurate. If you check the lat/long co-ords they give, there isn't an airport there...

So at this point I'm chalking it up to one of the following:

1). Ghost in the machine - XHQ isn't a valid iata airport code
2). XHQ is simply another code for BUS (since it looks like Batumi is a weird semi autonomous region according to something I read on wikipedia)
3). XHQ is an iata code but not for an airport. Maybe its a bus station or railway station.

[Ernest Lanc's]

Hi gpuk

2). XHQ is simply another code for BUS (since it looks like Batumi is a weird semi autonomous region according to something I read on wikipedia)

If this link is correct..There is no airport at Hopa, just a terminal from where you are bused to Batumi.
Turkish Airlines flies from Batumi (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/georgia/adjara/batumi) to Istanbul (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey/istanbul), but is categorized as both Batumi (Hopa) and Batumi (International). Passengers from Hopa (in Turkey (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey)) check in at a terminal there and are bused across the border to Batumi for their flight. Fares coming from "Hopa" cost about 100USD while from Batumi they are significantly more expensive (both are for the exact same flight).
Can I check in at Batumi airport with a Hopa-Istanbul ticket? - Lonely Planet travel forum (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1795210)

As it is informed, the flights for Hopa passengers and Batumi passengers are executed with the same aircraft. Passenger possessing the ticket for Hopa has no right to enter Batumi territory, even in the event that passenger passes the passport control procedures in Istanbul airport. According to the mentioned above, passenger must obey the rule, because of the price difference between Hopa and Batumi tickets. Passengers possessing tickets for Hopa must travel to Hopa, and passengers possessing tickets for Batumi must travel to Batumi. The mentioned issue is particularly actual for the passengers traveling to Hopa, with Hopa tickets, due to avoiding matters with the representatives of the Customs Department of Georgia. In order to avoid such misunderstanding, we would like to momentously notify the passengers traveling to Hopa or Batumi regarding their rights.

Turkish Airlines (http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/corporate/announcements/4269/to-the-attention-of-hopa-passengers.aspx)

It would seem you are right gpuk.

[DaveReidUK]

As it is informed, the flights for Hopa passengers and Batumi passengers are executed with the same aircraft. Passenger possessing the ticket for Hopa has no right to enter Batumi territory, even in the event that passenger passes the passport control procedures in Istanbul airport. According to the mentioned above, passenger must obey the rule, because of the price difference between Hopa and Batumi tickets. Passengers possessing tickets for Hopa must travel to Hopa, and passengers possessing tickets for Batumi must travel to Batumi. The mentioned issue is particularly actual for the passengers traveling to Hopa, with Hopa tickets, due to avoiding matters with the representatives of the Customs Department of Georgia. In order to avoid such misunderstanding, we would like to momentously notify the passengers traveling to Hopa or Batumi regarding their rights.

Exactly.

As I said previously (some 10 posts ago):

It's not unknown for IATA to assign two codes to the same airport, particularly when it serves two countries - Basel/Mulhouse being the obvious example.

[barry lloyd]

XHQ is simply another code for BUS (since it looks like Batumi is a weird semi autonomous region according to something I read on wikipedia)

Perhaps, as suggested, it is a weird code used for a bus service between BUS and Hopa. The lat and long designations given on the low fares website coincide exactly with BUS. There is an airfield (of sorts) at Hopa but I had always understood it to be military. Batumi is the major oil port for Georgia and is very definitely part of Georgia even though it is described as a semi-autonomous region. (The oil is brought by rail from Azerbaijan).

I haven't been to Batumi for a couple of years now, but the terminal and remainder of the airport infrastructure appeared to be quite small when I was last there, and I doubt very much if it could cope with any significant amount of traffic.

[Ernest Lanc's]

DaveReidUK

Exactly.

As I said previously (some 10 posts ago):


Yes you did..But XHQ is not a valid airport code, it's just a terminal code in Hopa, which is served by BUS IMHO.

If that is correct, then the answer to gpuk's threadstart is Turkey.

Reason: Hopa might be the same as Batumi..But I can't see how a none airport code like XHQ can be the same as BUS. That's my opinion.

[DaveReidUK]

But XHQ is not a valid airport code

I don't understand how you can make a categorical statement like that without quoting the source you are using. I don't have a current copy of the IATA Airline Coding Directory, which would hopefully settle the matter conclusively - do you ?

Would you classify, for example, MLH as "not a valid airport code" because it's the same place as BSL ?

But I can't see how a none airport code like XHQ can be the same as BUS.

Well clearly if it was a non-airport code then it couldn't be the same. But we haven't established that yet.

If it helps, IATA rules prohibit airlines from publishing schedules that purport to be non-stop (e.g. Stansted-XHQ) if they actually involve more than one segment such as an additional flight leg or a road journey.

So using XHQ to mean "Hopa, via Batumi" wouldn't be allowed, whereas using it to mean "Batumi (passengers entering/exiting from/to Turkey)" would be perfectly OK, just like MLH means "Basel/Mulhouse (passengers entering/exiting from/to France".

[barry lloyd]

DaveReid:

Your comments certainly make the most sense to me. As I have mentioned earlier, there is a lot of border traffic between the two countries, and presumably it's being used a cheap way for Turks (largely) to enter the country. I wasn't aware of this when I was in the area previously, but at that time only Georgian was flying into Batumi and this has perhaps has come about since the upgrading of Batumi airport. I imagine there is some sort of transit system in place at BUS which allows those travelling to Turkey to board a bus which does not stop until it reaches the border, in much the same way as the buses that operate to and from northern Cyprus.
So, as you have suggested, it seems that XHQ may be no more than made-up code for a bus station in Hopa.

[Ernest Lanc's]

It's not unknown for IATA to assign two codes to the same airport, particularly when it serves two countries - Basel/Mulhouse being the obvious example.


That is not think to do with this thread..

Look we have establish that Hopa is one and the same place as Batumi..Do you want more sources..You even said that yourself.

XHQ is a none valid code for an terminal in Turkey, and BUS is the airport that serves that terminal - In Georgia...You can't fly from XHQ to BUS, so therefore HHQ is not a shared code, and is in Turkey.

[DaveReidUK]

Look we have establish that Hopa is one and the same place as Batumi

No we haven't, because it isn't. I don't recall saying that.

a) Hopa is a town in Turkey.

b) Batumi is a city in Georgia. As the crow flies, it's about 10km from the Turkish border, and about 30km from Hopa (more by road, obviously)

c) "Batum - Hopa" and XHQ are the name and IATA code used for the airport at Batumi (Georgia) specifically for passengers travelling to/from Hopa (Turkey) via an unusual, but by no means unique, international/domestic segregation arrangement

XHQ is a none valid code for an terminal in Turkey

What is a "none valid code" ? What is your criterion for validity or otherwise ?

You can't fly from XHQ to BUS, so therefore XHQ is not a shared code, and is in Turkey.

No, you can't fly from XHQ to BUS because they are the same place, just like you can't fly from BSL to MLH.

[Ernest Lanc's]

No, you can't fly from XHQ to BUS because they are the same place, just like you can't fly from BSL to MLH.
No they are not. As you say:-
a) Hopa is a town in Turkey.

b) Batumi is a city in Georgia. As the crow flies, it's about 10km from the Turkish border, and about 30km from Hopa (more by road, obviously)
You technically could fly XHQ to BUS , if XHQ was an airport code, or even if there was an airport in Hopa, which there is not.
No we haven't, because it isn't. I don't recall saying that

Look: In you last post you contradict yourself.

DaveReidUK - You where answering this quote from me.

Look we have establish that Hopa is one and the same place as Batumi

No, you can't fly from XHQ to BUS because they are the same place
Earlier you said :-
That's because they are one and the same place.

OK..You are talking codes, which SHOULD be the same as the town/city, whatever.
I don't understand how you can make a categorical statement like that without quoting the source you are using. I don't have a current copy of the IATA Airline Coding Directory, which would hopefully settle the matter conclusively - do you ?
List of airports by IATA code: X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_code:_X) 2011/12

Yes I have..You can get IATA codes on other websites that above..Look you will find BUS, bur you won't find XHQ...

Same: IATA 3-Letter Airport Codes: Order by Codes - A (http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/IATA_Codes/IATA_Code_A.htm)

Look I have used sources to back up my points in almost every post..If you can do better and find better sources..Then fair play..

We do know and you have posted that AHQ is not a proper airport code, so what is the argument?...Hopa is a terminal and Batumi is a city with an airport in Georgia with a proper airport code...Batumi is the same as Hopa in the sense it provides the aircraft booked for Hopa..There IMO the matter ends..They are 59km apart for heavens sake. The pricing is different, so why should an invalid code be the same as BUS?. Invalid because XHQ is a code for a bulding terminal/Bus station in Hopa Turkey.

[Ernest Lanc's]

Batum - Hopa airport - view flight list (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Batum_Hopa)

Airport nameBatum - HopaIATA Airport CodeXHQCountryTurkey (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/flights_from_Turkey)Latitude41.390Longitude41.418
Airports near Batum - Hopa airport, Turkey (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/cities-near-XHQ-Batum_Hopa)

That sorts the code..Although the airport is a terminal for px to be bused to BUS.

Airports near Hopa:

Airports near Batum - Hopa airport, Turkey

Batumi, Georgia (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/cities-near-BUS-Batumi) at 69.37 km. http://www.lowcostroutes.com/_img/_v2/to.png 38 flights (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Batumi)
Kutaisi, Georgia (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/cities-near-KUT-Kutaisi) at 143.12 km. http://www.lowcostroutes.com/_img/_v2/to.png 2 flights (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Kutaisi)
Trabzon (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/cities-near-TZX-Trabzon) at 143.24 km. http://www.lowcostroutes.com/_img/_v2/to.png 119 flights (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Trabzon)
Erzurum (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/cities-near-ERZ-Erzurum) at 160.89 km. http://www.lowcostroutes.com/_img/_v2/to.png 22 flights (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Erzurum)
Kars (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/cities-near-KSY-Kars) at 165.16 km. http://www.lowcostroutes.com/_img/_v2/to.png 12 flights (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/fly_from_Kars)

Batumi Georgia is the nearest airport 69.37 km away..

Airports near Batum - Hopa airport, Turkey (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/cities-near-XHQ-Batum_Hopa)

Clearly Hopa is being sold as an airport, when it's a terminal to bus pax elswhere..

But if you click on the flight Symbol at Hopa, you will see the flights are:-

Low cost flights from Batum - Hopa airport (XHQ), Turkey (http://www.lowcostroutes.com/en/flights_from_Turkey)

That's my penneth and will now respond only to a source that shows I am wrong, I am going round and round in circles.

I don't mind being wrong, If I am proved wrong in particular as i am no expert on this..But IMO to answer the thread..XHQ whatever that code is - Is in Turkey..IMHO.

[gpuk]

Thanks everyone for all your input.

[Ernest Lanc's]

Been good fun gpuk..Sharpens he mind:):ok:

[The SSK]

It probably has no relevance to this fascinating discussion, in which everyone seems to be right but still insist on disagreeing, but
THY which flies Istanbul-Batumi does not offer this reverse-border-crossing service back to Hopa
Pegasus – another Turkish airline – apparently does
Pegasus seems to have other privileges in Georgia – they market the domestic service Tbilisi – Mestia (check out the funky terminal building)
Which most interestingly of all (and nothing to do with this thread) is flown by a Canadian bush operator.
http://upper-svaneti.********.be/2010/12/queen-tamar-airport-in-mestia-flight.html

Edit - it seems that you must replace the asterisks with the letters b,l,o,g,s,p,o and t

[DaveReidUK]

OK - last post on the subject before I go and stick needles in my eyes ... :hmm:

We do know and you have posted that XHQ is not a proper airport code, so what is the argument?

I have no idea what you mean by a "proper" airport code, that's not a term I have used.

If I get on a flight with a ticket to XHQ, I land on the same bit of tarmac as the person sitting next to me with a ticket to BUS.

Hopa is a terminal and Batumi is a city with an airport in Georgia with a proper airport code

Again, I have no idea what you mean by "a terminal". We are agreed, I think, that Hopa is a city (or town) in Turkey, and that it has a bus station from where you can catch a bus to Batumi Airport in Georgia (apparently without having to go through Georgian border controls on the way, so that your journey is essentially treated as a Turkish domestic arrival or departure).

However we disagree about whether this "terminal"/bus station in Hopa has been assigned a code by IATA ("proper" or otherwise). As far as I can see, Hopa bus station is like thousands of bus stations worldwide that IATA hasn't seen fit to give a code to (Mulhouse bus station doesn't have a code either, come to that).

Batumi is the same as Hopa in the sense it provides the aircraft booked for Hopa

If you mean that some passengers get off or on at Batumi with a reservation that say XHQ "Batum - Hopa", and travel by bus to or from Hopa, then we are in agreement about that.

The pricing is different, so why should an invalid code be the same as BUS?.

I don't see what relevance pricing has to anything.

Invalid because XHQ is a code for a bulding terminal/Bus station in Hopa Turkey.

Again, we must agree to differ on that. The only authoritative source for IATA codes and decodes is the IATA Airline Coding Directory, and we are agreed that neither of us has a current copy. In the absence of that, I'm falling back on 40+ years' experience and inside knowledge of how the air transport industry operates whereas you are quoting what Wikipedia says (or rather inferring from the absence of a reference in Wikipedia that something doesn't exist, which is a brave thing to do).

As I said at the beginning of this post, I have nothing more to add, unless someone who is in possession of a current IATA ACD would care to give us a definitive answer, which I will be happy to accept.

[Ernest Lanc's]

Yes i agree we will have to disagree.

don't see what relevance pricing has to anything.


As it is informed, the flights for Hopa passengers and Batumi passengers are executed with the same aircraft. Passenger possessing the ticket for Hopa has no right to enter Batumi territory, even in the event that passenger passes the passport control procedures in Istanbul airport. According to the mentioned above, passenger must obey the rule, because of the price difference between Hopa and Batumi tickets. Passengers possessing tickets for Hopa must travel to Hopa, and passengers possessing tickets for Batumi must travel to Batumi. The mentioned issue is particularly actual for the passengers traveling to Hopa, with Hopa tickets, due to avoiding matters with the representatives of the Customs Department of Georgia. In order to avoid such misunderstanding, we would like to momentously notify the passengers traveling to Hopa or Batumi regarding their rights.

Turkish Airlines (http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/corporate/announcements/4269/to-the-attention-of-hopa-passengers.aspx)
Just that the pricing is different in Turkey than from Georgia,

I use the word terminal because I understand pax check on at Hopa before they are bused to Batumi.. This I think is because of the difference in prices, say to London.
If I get on a flight with a ticket to XHQ, I land on the same bit of tarmac as the person sitting next to me with a ticket to BUS.

Yes I agree..As there is no airport at Hopa, but you will be bused to Hopa XHQ...

Anyway I have had my penneth..I will also like DaveReidUK hold my hand up, if a better link to codes than my List of airports by IATA code: X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_code:_X) LINK.

Nothing else I can add to this thread, without going round in circles.

[The SSK]

unless someone who is in possession of a current IATA ACD would care to give us a definitive answer

Neither Hopa nor XHQ are in the current ACD, not on IATA's internal database ;)