Where is XHQ ??
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.
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.
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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.
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.
Look we have establish that Hopa is one and the same place as Batumi
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
You can't fly from XHQ to BUS, so therefore XHQ is not a shared code, and is in Turkey.
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Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
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.
Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
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)
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)
No we haven't, because it isn't. I don't recall saying that
DaveReidUK - You where answering this quote from me.
Originally Posted by Ernest Lanc's
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
Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
That's because they are one and the same place.
Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
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 ?
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
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.
Last edited by Ernest Lanc's; 3rd Sep 2012 at 11:16.
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Batum - Hopa airport - view flight list
Airport nameBatum - HopaIATA Airport CodeXHQCountryTurkeyLatitude41.390Longitude41.418
Airports near Batum - Hopa airport, Turkey
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 at 69.37 km.
38 flights
Kutaisi, Georgia at 143.12 km. 2 flights
Trabzon at 143.24 km. 119 flights
Erzurum at 160.89 km. 22 flights
Kars at 165.16 km. 12 flights
Batumi Georgia is the nearest airport 69.37 km away..
Airports near Batum - Hopa airport, Turkey
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
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.
Airport nameBatum - HopaIATA Airport CodeXHQCountryTurkeyLatitude41.390Longitude41.418
Airports near Batum - Hopa airport, Turkey
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 at 69.37 km.
38 flightsKutaisi, Georgia at 143.12 km.
2 flightsTrabzon at 143.24 km.
119 flightsErzurum at 160.89 km.
22 flightsKars at 165.16 km.
12 flightsBatumi Georgia is the nearest airport 69.37 km away..
Airports near Batum - Hopa airport, Turkey
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
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.
Last edited by Ernest Lanc's; 3rd Sep 2012 at 11:40.
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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/201...ia-flight.html
Edit - it seems that you must replace the asterisks with the letters b,l,o,g,s,p,o and t
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/201...ia-flight.html
Edit - it seems that you must replace the asterisks with the letters b,l,o,g,s,p,o and t
Last edited by The SSK; 3rd Sep 2012 at 11:56.
OK - last post on the subject before I go and stick needles in my eyes ... 
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.
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).
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.
I don't see what relevance pricing has to anything.
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.
We do know and you have posted that XHQ is not a proper airport code, so what is the argument?
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
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
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.
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.
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Yes i agree we will have to disagree.
Turkish Airlines
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.
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 LINK.
Nothing else I can add to this thread, without going round in circles.
Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
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.
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.
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 LINK.
Nothing else I can add to this thread, without going round in circles.
Last edited by Ernest Lanc's; 3rd Sep 2012 at 12:17.
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unless someone who is in possession of a current IATA ACD would care to give us a definitive answer
