Originally posted by pynchonesque:
Seems that a lot of the confusion stems from codes coming form the name of the airport, instead of the name of the city. E.g., SVO is Shermetyevo, to distinguish it from Domodyevo, Moscow's other airport. And IAH of course is Intercontinental Airport Houston.
IAH was recently renamed "Bush Intercontinental Airport," after the former President, but nobody here calls it that, except the TV news anchors. We just call it "the big airport" as opposed to HOU (William P. Hobby Airport, named after a former Texas governor, and now undergoing massive renovation).