ICAO Airport codes
 

I quite like the IATA airport codes. One of the things I like about them is that most of them actually make sense. No such luck when it comes to the ICAO codes. Sure the occaisional code might make sense but by and large there doesn't seem to be any logic involved. As an example let's look at London Luton Airport (IATA code LTN) which is EGGW. I find it hard to locate the letters G and W in the name of the airport. What makes it even stranger is that there is the close by airport London Gatwick, which, as you may have already noticed, does include the G and the W and would have been an obvious candidate to receive the EGGW code. But, no, they decided to use the code EGKK. This is just one example of the mysteries of ICAO coding and there are, as we all know, many more. Who came up with these codes ?? They are clearly impractical by seldomly reflecting the name of the airport and as a consequence us poor pilots (snif) have to keep looking up all the codes for the airports we fly over (unless you have a real good memory, in which case you would be a lawyer).

Interesting...I had the exact OPPOSITE problem!

I spent seven years in ATC, where we use ICAO for all airports, so Heathrow was always "EGLL", Gatwick "EGKK" and so on.
Now I am flying, and like every airline we use IATA codes. So it confused me at first to see "LGW"..."GW" would get me thinking of "EGGW" and therefore Luton! "HAJ" for Hanover? "EDDV" is surely more intuitive! And so on.
There is a logic to ICAO...The first letter is the region, followed by country code, followed to two letters for the airport.

"EG.." Europe, Great Britain
"ED.." Europe, Germany
"LF.." Europe, France
"K..." USA

Some IATA codes are obvious...like JFK, STN, AMS, but TXL for Berlin? FCO for Rome?

Each system has it's pluses and minuses - but you have 456976 ICAO codes to 17576 IATA codes.

A prize to the first person to list them all....

As I understand it, each country can allocate its ICAO designators as it wishes, within the global scheme, thus the UK can arrange the last two letters according to its whim.

Despite initial appearances, the UK codes are logical, in an historic manner. With the relatively-crude switching systems available on the AFTN (Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network) in the 50s and 60s, there was a need to keep flight plan addresses to a simple system. Thus, after the pre-ordained EG, the country was sub-divided into areas for the third letter -
A = Northern Ireland (A for Aldergrove?)
B = Birmingham
C = Manchester
D = Military airfields in SW England
etc, etc
The last letter indentified the specific location, with the added fact that the main AFTN unit in that area had the fourth letter the same as the third, eg EGKK, EGLL, EGTT.

In recent years the advent of software switching and better systems of data transfer have made the system somewhat of an anachronism, but it has been deemed too difficult to make wholesale changes. However, new airports like Sheffield (EGSY) do not conform to the original master plan.

Other countries, like France and Italy, have a very similar system, so we're not unique. I hope that this rather fact-laden reply does cast a little more light on the subject.

Just to explain some IATA Codes:

Berlin has (at least) 3 airports:
TXL = Berlin Tegel
SXF = Berlin Schönefeld
THF = Berlin Tempelhof

And FCO for Rome makes sense if you see, that the name of the field is Fiumicino.

Anyway, I sometimes have problems with ICAO AND IATA Abbreviations. :)

I'm a great fan of standardization of processes - where it makes sense. Two separate designators for the same destination does not make sense, it only adds confusion. Confusion in aviation should be minimized for obvious reasons.

Hopefully not too far off the subject . . . but a thumbs up to the first person who knows the (logical) reason why Orlando International is MCO. Captain Ed is disqualified because this question is *way* too easy for him. :)

Interesting discussion - another way a site like this enlightens humble folks such as myself.

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Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.

McCoy AFB. Used to be a joint use SAC base. Before Lt. (or whatever his rank was) McCoy pranged, I believe it was called Pine Castle AFB.

:)

Damn, I thought it was, "Mostly Charter Operators"

Noooooo, you must be confusing MCO with SFB. :) MCO has had regularly scheduled airline service for a number of years now. ;)

To let folks here return to a serious discussion, perhaps I'll start a "what do the letters stand for?" thread on Jet Blast . . .



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Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.

Damn acronyms.

Municipal County Orlando?

Speaking og strange IATA codes:
What is the logic behinf YYZ and all the other Canadian Y-codes?

Closer to home how can Teesside get to be MME?

Chicago O´Hara: ORD (Orchard field)
Cincinnati: CVG (Covington)
Moscow: SVO (Sheremetyvo)
Rome: CIA (Ciampino)
New Orleans: MSY (Moisant)
Washington Dulles IAD (...huh..)

At least in the US it is (mostly) easy, as
at major airports, ICAO and IATA codes are
combinded, eg,

San Francisco Intl = SFO, KSFO
LAX = LAX, KLAX (what else!)
New York JFK = JFK, KJFK
San Jose = SJC, KSJC etc etc

One I have always wondered about - Malaga, Spain = AGP - why?

Why is Teesside MME?
What was JFK's code while it was still called Idlewilde? Or CDG's when it was still Roissy?

how about

Jon Wayne Orange Country IATA code SNA

Speaking of German codes: Can anyone tell me why some of them start with ET.. and others with ED..

e.g. EDDN Nürnberg
ETHC Celle.

There doesn't seem to be any GDR-West Germany logic behind this....

ED is for civil and ET for military facilities.

SNA = Santa Ana (or John Wayne, or Orange County, if you prefer).

[This message has been edited by GPSman (edited 16 August 2000).]