New Delhi: The upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport recently got a three-letter location code or airport code ‘NMI’ according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) website. Meanwhile, Mumbai’s existing international airport – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSIA) – continues to carry the location code ‘BOM’. In September last year, IATA assigned ‘DXN’ as the location code for the upcoming Greater Noida International Airport. Let us understand how airports get the location codes and who assigns them.
What is the airport code?
Airport codes are also known as location codes. They are used to differentiate airports around the world and ensure that there is no confusion between countries or a particular city. These codes can be seen on passengers’ documents related to reservations, flight tickets, and luggage tags. Air traffic controllers and pilots also use these codes.
Types of airport codes
There are two types of airport codes
International Air Transport Association (IATA)
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
International Air Transport Association (IATA): These are three-letter codes that refer to most commercial airports worldwide. The IATA codes are also assigned to bus, rail, helicopter, and ferry terminals. They codeshare with airlines for ticketing and baggage transfers.
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO): These are four-letter ICAO codes, which are less common and refer to airports without an IATA code. Air traffic control officials can also use them. They are also known as “location indicators.”
How do airports get their codes?
Most IATA codes are derived from the first three letters of an airport’s city, while other codes reference the airport’s name. No two airports in the world are allowed to share an IATA code. If both options are already taken, the airport is given a code that refers to an aspect of the city’s history or specific location or related to the famous personality of that country.
According to IATA’s website, the Airline Coding Directory (ACD) is the only official source for IATA airline and location codes. This directory is updated daily with the latest modifications, making it easy for day-to-day operations.
Airport codes: History
The origin of airport codes can be traced back to the 1930s when pilots in the United States first used them for location identification. Initially, a two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) was used, but this system became unmanageable for cities without an NWS identifier. Thus, a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented, allowing for 17,576 permutations. This historical evolution of airport codes reflects the rich history of aviation.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code, a three-letter geocode, is a global identifier assigned to numerous airports and metropolitan areas across the globe. This underscores the interconnectedness of our world through aviation. Let us understand how airports get a code. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
