

Some cross municipal and other kinds of boundaries, which results in mixed up codes like DFW for Dallas Fort Worth and LBA for Britain’s popular regional hub, Leeds Bradford airport.

#IATA CITY CODES CODE#
IATA Codes in use Interesting IATA airport code facts So today’s 3 letter system was brought in, allowing an impressive total of 17,576 permutations. The original system soon became unworkable because not all towns and cities had an NWS code. In the 1930s when aviation was in its infancy, a sport for the wealthy that ordinary people rarely if ever experienced, pilots in the United States used a 2 letter code provided by the US National Weather Service to identify cities. IATA historyĪirport codes were first invented to help pilots identify specific airports. As well as codes to identify airports across the world, IATA also produces codes for railway stations agreed between the major airlines and big public transport companies like SNCF French Rail and Deutsche Bahn. Also called the IATA location identifier, IATA station code or location identifier, they’re also displayed prominently on the luggage tags attached at the airport check-in desk, to help make sure your stuff arrives at the right destination.īut there’s more… it’s a travel thing. IATA codes are basically abbreviations made up of 3 letters, each identifying a specific airport. IATA publishes an updated list of airport codes twice a year in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. Today IATA codes are an integral element of the travel industry, essential for identifying airlines, their destinations and official traffic documents. IATA Airports About IATA codes for airports
#IATA CITY CODES PROFESSIONAL#
In short IATA helps airlines do their job safely, securely, efficiently and economically under clearly defined rules, delivering professional support to every stakeholder via a huge range of services and products. And they’ve been doing it for almost 70 years. They stand firm on the sector’s behalf, challenging ‘unreasonable’ rules and charges, holding both governments and airline regulators to account and insisting on common sense regulation. It’s their job to improve public and commercial understanding of the sector, increasing awareness of the benefits of aviation in today’s global economy. The organisation represents, leads and serves the airline industry. It sees itself as a powerful force for ‘value creation and innovation’, helping maintain a safe, secure and profitable air transport industry which connects and enriches our world in a sustainable fashion. It also has offices in Geneva, Switzerland plus 60 or so others in 60 countries. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, IATA helps formulate air travel industry policy and standards. Now it’s at least 100 times bigger, partly thanks to IATA. The international scheduled air transport industry has also grown beyond all recognition since 1945. Now it boasts more than 250 members from 118 countries, mainly major carriers who, in total, handle around 84% of the planet’s air traffic. In 1945 IATA already had 57 members from 31 nations, mostly across the EU and USA. The modern iteration of the organisation was founded in Havana, Cuba, back in 1945, tasked with encouraging and facilitating inter-airline cooperation to benefit increasing numbers of air travel consumers. The modern IATA is the successor to the International Air Traffic Association, founded in The Hague in 1919 when the world’s first international scheduled services were created. IATA is the International Air Transport Association, the international airline industry’s trade association. IATA – International Air Transport Association What are IATA airport codes and why do we need them?
