FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Y does Canada have so many Y airport codes?
Old May 23, 2003 | 5:22 pm
  #7  
Aviatrix
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 7,560
Here is the "scientific" explanation...:

There are two separate sets of airport codes - the familiar three-letter codes used for passenger handling, and the four-letter ICAO codes used for flight operations.

The four-letter codes consist of a two-letter country code - such as EG for the UK, EH for the Netherlands or LF for France - followed by a two-letter airport code.

LHR is EGLL, LGW is EGKK, STN is EGSS, AMS is EHAM, CDG is LFPG.

As you can see from these examples, four-letter codes don't necessarily bear any resemblance to the equivalent three-letter codes... at least not in Europe. The USA have the entire K block (i.e., from KA to KZ), which means that as a general rule your three-letter codes are the same as your four-letter ones, minus the initial K.

The main two-letter code for Canada is CY (CZ is also in use, and CW is used for aviation weather stations), and Canada has adopted the same system as the USA, i.e., three-letter codes are the same as four-letter codes minus the initial C. Which is why Canadian three-letter airport codes generally start in Y!



[This message has been edited by Aviatrix (edited 05-23-2003).]
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