F
For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described
above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and mix
the letters around, giving rise to
DFW for Dallas–Fort Worth, DTW for Detroit–Wayne County, HNL for Honolulu, LBA
for Leeds Bradford (Airport), MSP for Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and RDU for Raleigh–
Durham.
Canada originally used two letters for identification of a weather reporting station in the 1930s.
Additionally, preceding the two-letter code, was placed a Y (meaning "yes") where the reporting
station was co-located with an airport, a W (meaning "without") where the reporting station was not
co-located with an airport, and a U where the reporting station was co-located with an NDB.
An X was used if the last two letters of the code had already been taken by another Canadian ident,
and a Z was used if the locator could be confused with a U.S. three letter ident.
In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after the airport itself instead of the city
it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself. For instance:
•
Berlin (BER) – Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) and Berlin Schönefeld Airport (SXF), both to be
replaced by Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) in the future
•
Bangkok (BKK) – Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Don Mueang (DMK)
•
Beijing (BJS) – Capital (PEK) and Nanyuan (NAY)
•
Bucharest (BUH) – Otopeni (OTP) is named after the town of Otopeni which the airport is
located, while the city also has another airport inside the city limits, Baneasa (BBU).
•
Buenos Aires (BUE) – Ezeiza (EZE) is named after the suburb in Ezeiza Partido which the
airport is located, while the city also has another airport in city proper, Aeroparque Jorge
Newbery (AEP).
•
Chicago (CHI) – O'Hare (ORD), named after Orchard Field, the airport's former name which
took it, and Midway (MDW)
•
Jakarta (JKT) – Soekarno-Hatta (CGK) is named after Cengkareng, the district in which the
airport is located, while the city also has another airport, Halim Perdanakusuma (HLP). JKT
had referred to the city's former airport, Kemayoran Airport which is now closed.
•
London (LON) – Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), London City (LCY),[3] Stansted (STN), Luton
(LTN) and Southend (SEN)
•
Milan (MIL) – Malpensa (MXP), Linate (LIN) and Bergamo-Orio al Serio (BGY)
A - Z of Flight
May 2017
www.alliance-airways.net
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