meaning of obscure airport/airline codes?
#17
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Here's a link to an article from ten years ago that explains, among other things, why Spokane is GEG, and Kahului is OGG:
http://www.skygod.com/asstd/abc.html
http://www.skygod.com/asstd/abc.html
#18
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by suranyi:
Similarly, commercial airport codes generally cannot begin with K or W.</font>
Similarly, commercial airport codes generally cannot begin with K or W.</font>
#20
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JeremyZ:
The mailing address is in White Plains, no?</font>
The mailing address is in White Plains, no?</font>
The mailing address is white plains, but I believe that airport is physicially located in harrison and rye brook. If you look at the map over at
http://www.westchester1.com/west_county/map.asp
You can see that it's not in White Plains, but they have the airport marker so big you can't see where it really is. I believe it's closer to the Connecticut border then it is to the White Plains city line.
#21
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According to LAWA, the X in LAX does not stand for anything. Originally, airport codes were two letters. When a third one was required, they just randomly chose X.
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Best regards,
Dairenn Lombard
Los Angeles, CA
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Best regards,
Dairenn Lombard
Los Angeles, CA
#22
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dlombard:
According to LAWA, the X in LAX does not stand for anything. Originally, airport codes were two letters. When a third one was required, they just randomly chose X.
</font>
According to LAWA, the X in LAX does not stand for anything. Originally, airport codes were two letters. When a third one was required, they just randomly chose X.
</font>
LAV
aloha
#23
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My personal favorite is Freso Air Terminal, or FAT.
The city desperately wants the code changed to FYI (or Freso Yosemite International) to market to folks heading to Yosemite that they should fly into Fresno (as opposed to, say, SJC).. and to sound like a bigger deal (International.. even though there's no non-stop international service ).
There are even FYI/Fresno Yosemite International signs all over the airport. But the code remains FAT.
The city desperately wants the code changed to FYI (or Freso Yosemite International) to market to folks heading to Yosemite that they should fly into Fresno (as opposed to, say, SJC).. and to sound like a bigger deal (International.. even though there's no non-stop international service ).
There are even FYI/Fresno Yosemite International signs all over the airport. But the code remains FAT.
#24
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My (least?) favorite is CGK, which has has no obvious correlation to any of "Jakarta", "Soekarno-Hatta International airport", or "Indonesia". It took a bit of digging to figure out that it stands for Cengkarang, the name of the hamlet it was built in...
FWIW, "JAK" is Jacmel, Haiti, but "JKT" is Jakarta Metropolican Area -- kind of like "NYC", except that there's only one international airport in Jakarta, making it rather useless!
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Jan 06, 2004).]
FWIW, "JAK" is Jacmel, Haiti, but "JKT" is Jakarta Metropolican Area -- kind of like "NYC", except that there's only one international airport in Jakarta, making it rather useless!
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Jan 06, 2004).]
#25
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There are many reasons behind the codes and one could write a long article about them (there's a link to one above, but it's got a few inaccuracies).
The codes we use here are the simpler, "public-facing" set determined by IATA, 2 character for airlines and 3-character for airports. Inside the industry, such as on flight plans, there is another set known as ICAO codes, 3-character for airlines and 4-character for airports. The relationship betwen these two sets gives some more clues to the more puzzling codes, such as why all the Canadian ones begin with Y.
Two-character airline codes are in particularly short supply nowadays, which is why new entrants like Jet Blue have to put up with B6 (JB already belonged to helicopter operator Helijet in Vancouver BC). Jet Blue's ICAO code is more sensibly JBU. There has long been a proposal to make the 3-character airline codes standard, but as the established airlines would have to reprogram all their computer systems and it would only really benefit the new entrants, this has been resisted.
The codes we use here are the simpler, "public-facing" set determined by IATA, 2 character for airlines and 3-character for airports. Inside the industry, such as on flight plans, there is another set known as ICAO codes, 3-character for airlines and 4-character for airports. The relationship betwen these two sets gives some more clues to the more puzzling codes, such as why all the Canadian ones begin with Y.
Two-character airline codes are in particularly short supply nowadays, which is why new entrants like Jet Blue have to put up with B6 (JB already belonged to helicopter operator Helijet in Vancouver BC). Jet Blue's ICAO code is more sensibly JBU. There has long been a proposal to make the 3-character airline codes standard, but as the established airlines would have to reprogram all their computer systems and it would only really benefit the new entrants, this has been resisted.
#26
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gleff:
The city desperately wants the code changed to FYI (or Freso Yosemite International) to market to folks heading to Yosemite that they should fly into Fresno (as opposed to, say, SJC).. and to sound like a bigger deal (International.. even though there's no non-stop international service ).
There are even FYI/Fresno Yosemite International signs all over the airport. But the code remains FAT.</font>
The city desperately wants the code changed to FYI (or Freso Yosemite International) to market to folks heading to Yosemite that they should fly into Fresno (as opposed to, say, SJC).. and to sound like a bigger deal (International.. even though there's no non-stop international service ).
There are even FYI/Fresno Yosemite International signs all over the airport. But the code remains FAT.</font>
#27
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by seat 50J:
XNA for Fayetteville/Northwest Arkansas isn't a good airport code. Neither is:
- BNA Nashville (not sure what the origin is, perhaps there's a town of Blair/Nashville)
- TYS in Knoxville must be someone's name. Perhaps Tyson?
</font>
XNA for Fayetteville/Northwest Arkansas isn't a good airport code. Neither is:
- BNA Nashville (not sure what the origin is, perhaps there's a town of Blair/Nashville)
- TYS in Knoxville must be someone's name. Perhaps Tyson?
</font>
XNA = (I swear!) Exciting New Airport
BNA = Berry Field Nashville
TYS = You are correct, the Tysons donated the land
(edit to reduce size of quoted text and remove reference to article already posted.)
[This message has been edited by MikeLaw (edited Jan 06, 2004).]
#29
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gleff:
My personal favorite is Freso Air Terminal, or FAT.
</font>
My personal favorite is Freso Air Terminal, or FAT.
</font>
and I were thinking of doing a Wenatchee to Fresno run, but just as we
were getting to it, United quit flying to EAT.
So we went to Rover's instead.
True story, SHMG.
#30
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by violist:
One of my traveling and dining companions
and I were thinking of doing a Wenatchee to Fresno run, but just as we
were getting to it, United quit flying to EAT.
So we went to Rover's instead.
True story, SHMG.</font>
One of my traveling and dining companions
and I were thinking of doing a Wenatchee to Fresno run, but just as we
were getting to it, United quit flying to EAT.
So we went to Rover's instead.
True story, SHMG.</font>