Politics aside, sometimes things work a little backwards Washington DC - including its airports Nope, They’re Just Backwards Airport Codes Louis Armstrong International is the main gateway into New Orleans, but its code MSY is in honor of aviator John Moisant and the nearby Moisant Stock Yards NOLA’s Lakefront Airport owns NEW despite changing its name from New Orleans Airport more than 6 decades ago. Frustration here is evidenced by people informally referring to MCO as OIA instead ( Orlando International Airport). Similarly, Orlando uses the code MCO, not because it serves flights to Mi ckey M ouse’s door-step, but from it’s origins as Mc Coy Air Force Base prior to becoming the gateway to the happiest place on earth. In 1949, the airport was renamed after WWII pilot and Medal of Honor recipient Edward Henry “Butch” O’Hare however, no one bothered changing O’Hare’s original designation, leaving it with ORD. Take Chicago, for example - in the 1940’s, Orchard Place was a small community just west of the city and the site of a military airport the airfield was also a manufacturing facility for Douglas Aircraft, and Orchard Place Airport – Douglas Field was given the code ORD. Many of these come from a designation code given to a former or historical name. Why do airports sometimes use seemingly unrelated codes that don’t match their name? Then, there are codes that just flat out don’t jive National Parks Service maintains a tiny airstrip called FFA at the historic sand dune in Kitty Hawk where the first flight occurred - First Flight Airport. Ho Chi Minh City ( SGN – commonly Sai go n)įor the record, the U.S. Then you have your historians who can decipher a code based on a city’s former or common name ( PGV) Pitt- Greenville - Pitt County, North Carolina.Ĭodes are sometimes worked out using both the city and the name of the airport itself

(DTW) De troit Metro - Wayne County, Michigan ( GGG) East Texas Regional Airport - Gre gg County, Texas There are municipal and regional airport ciphers that don’t originate from a city or airfield name, but instead from the county they’re in Some take their call letters from the city they’re in regardless of their formal name - ( SNA) John Wayne Orange County Airport in Sa nta Ana, California others ignore the city altogether and use its common name - ( CDG) Charles De Gaulle Airport and ( ORY) Orl y Airport in Paris, France. Multiple cities can be combined to create codesĬodes in cities with more multiple words can practically write themselves There are those that use their first three letters Los Angeles International (LAX) / source: fanshare That’s why we have LAX for Los Angeles, PDX for Portlan d, and PHX for Phoenix. To make things easier, airports began using the same two letter city code the National Weather Service assigned to their hometown, then placing an “X” at the end. So how did they decide which letters to use for airport identifiers, and why do some of them seem unintentionally encrypted? We’ve got your codes covered from (AAR) Aarhus to (ZRH) Zurich, and what they mean. As commercial airlines became more accessible and air travel gained popularity throughout the 1930’s, a three-letter system was used to create a seemingly endless amount of combinations - it’s actually 17,576.

We’re kinda disappointed, too.ĭuring the early years of aviation, an airport was considered any open field with a strong wind, and no formal identifiers were used, or even necessary. Oh, and in case you were wondering… there is no WTF airport.

FAA codes are more often than not the same as IATA codes, minus the first letter (usually K, unless in Hawaii, Alaska, or overseas territories), although there are some cases where IATA and FAA codes mean different airports altogether. The FAA is the governing body for aviation in the United States.

Iata airport city codes