mkh32404 From United States of America, joined Mar 2011, 17 posts, RR: 0 Posted (4 months 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 4299 times:
I was wondering. Can an airport change its airport code? It would seem to me that an airport code such as SUX just does not do much for an airport's image. Not that I have anything against Sioux Falls. I've never even been there. Who assigns these codes anyway?
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 18464 posts, RR: 17 Reply 1, posted (4 months 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 4267 times:
Quoting mkh32404 (Thread starter): I was wondering. Can an airport change its airport code?
Yes, the IATA code can be changed and it has been done in the past. (IDL to JFK, LAP to LHR, BAL to BWI to name a few). Another coming example: SXF changes to BER when the new Berlin Brandenburg airport, replacing SXF and TXL, opens later this year.
I think it requires the agreement of all operators serving the airport and can be quite costly due to the required computer reprogramming etc. so it's not done very often.
corey07850 From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 2500 posts, RR: 5 Reply 3, posted (4 months 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 4209 times:
I seem to recall that the residents near SUX actually voted to keep the code as they like it. In the US a lot of codes change when smaller airports experience an increase in traffic or get an ATCT, X47 to XFL for example.
Goldenshield From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 5039 posts, RR: 14 Reply 4, posted (4 months 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 4193 times:
The ICAO code can be changed as well. A few years ago, KFCA changed to KGPI, and anytime a new airport opens that is meant to replace an old one, it is opened using a temporary ICAO code until such such a time that it would be safe to totally replace the old code.
Just to name a few of those situations:
Denver Stapleton -> Denver Intl.
Austin Mueller -> Austin Bergstrom (Here, the Bergstrom already had a code, as it was a retired base, so they didn't need to allocate one.)
And most recently:
Saint George Muni. (KSGU) -> Saint George Muni. (KDXZ) (Now changed back to KSGU)
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
26point2 From United States of America, joined Mar 2010, 490 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (4 months 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 4177 times:
Some time ago one of the Colorado ski country airports, Eagle or Aspen...don't recall, made a bid for Sac City, Iowa's airport code SKI. Obviously it never happened.
KELPkid From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 5609 posts, RR: 4 Reply 7, posted (4 months 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 4164 times:
In the US, a three letter FAA LID (Location Identifier) is given to an airport when weather reporting is added for instrument approaches, although there are a few fields around with a three letter LID that don't have instrument approaches. Also, the FAA LID doesn't always correspond with the IATA or ICAO identifier...
Celebrating the birth of KELPkidJR on August 5, 2009 :-)
woodreau From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 824 posts, RR: 8 Reply 9, posted (4 months 3 days 18 hours ago) and read 4093 times:
Washington Dulles used to be DIA when it first opened. But bags got confused between DIA and DCA in the days when they hand wrote bag tags. So DIA became IAD.
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from surviving bad judgement.
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 18464 posts, RR: 17 Reply 11, posted (4 months 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 4053 times:
Quoting Starlionblue (Reply 10): When Kai Tak closed and Chep Lap Kok (formally "Hong Kong International") opened the IATA code moved as well.
Same thing when Denver's former Stapleton Airport closed and the new airport opened in 1994. Also when the old Munich Riem airport closed and was replaced by the current airport in 1992.
DiamondFlyer From United States of America, joined Oct 2008, 1107 posts, RR: 3 Reply 14, posted (4 months 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 3725 times:
Quoting corey07850 (Reply 3): In the US a lot of codes change when smaller airports experience an increase in traffic or get
an ATCT, X47 to XFL for example.
Actually, its an AWOS/ASOS that generally dictates the change over. In your instance, Flagler changed well before the tower was in operation. I know of an airport that changed from 9K4 to RCM when they got an AWOS.
KELPkid From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 5609 posts, RR: 4 Reply 15, posted (4 months 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 3703 times:
Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 11): Same thing when Denver's former Stapleton Airport closed and the new airport opened in 1994. Also when the old Munich Riem airport closed and was replaced by the current airport in 1992.
Stapleton was (briefly) open as an uncontrolled field during the changeover...our flight club in New Mexico had a sectional glued to the wall which showed the Denver TCA (as it was called then, pre-ICAO airspace in the US days ) and had Stapleton depicted in Magenta, with a unicom frequency
Celebrating the birth of KELPkidJR on August 5, 2009 :-)
rfields5421 From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 4871 posts, RR: 21 Reply 17, posted (4 months 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 3566 times:
The current airport was built in Baghdad West - to replace the Al-Muthanna airport located very close to the Tigris river, on the west bank. You can still see the shape and outline of that airport on Google/Bing Maps. That airport became Muthanna Air Base which was a major target in the 1991 and 2003 wars.
The Al-Muthanna airport was in operation back in the 1920s and was a major crossroads for flights between the Far East, Southeast Asia and Australia and Europe.
Quoting rfields5421 (Reply 17): The Al-Muthanna airport was in operation back in the 1920s and was a major crossroads for flights between the Far East, Southeast Asia and Australia and Europe.
Yes, it was also one of the many stops on the KLM Amsterdam - Jakarta route.
Completely off topic, but I was in Aleppo (ALP) in Syria once, and stayed in the ramshackle historic Baron Hotel. Across the road was a KLM travel agent, and in the staircase in the hotel was an original KLM poster with a Fokker F.XXXVI. I thought that was so cool.
The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad (Salvador Dali)
zululima From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 249 posts, RR: 4 Reply 19, posted (3 months 3 weeks 1 day ago) and read 3038 times:
Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 1): Yes, the IATA code can be changed and it has been done in the past. (IDL to JFK
Actually, I think it went IDL-KIA-JFK. Apparently they didn't like the association with the K.I.A. from military usage.
The Sioux City guys did the opposite. A while back they decided to embrace the SUX code as a kind of inside joke, and sold "Fly SUX" T-shirts and such in the gift shops.
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 18464 posts, RR: 17 Reply 21, posted (3 months 3 weeks 16 hours ago) and read 2972 times:
Quoting zululima (Reply 19): Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 1):
Yes, the IATA code can be changed and it has been done in the past. (IDL to JFK
Actually, I think it went IDL-KIA-JFK. Apparently they didn't like the association with the K.I.A. from military usage.
I've seen that story before about the KIA code but I've never seen any solid confirmation that it was ever implemented. Can anyone confirm? Also, "JFK" was so widely-used to refer to the person, it doesn't make sense to me that they would have proposed a totally different code like KIA.
zululima From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 249 posts, RR: 4 Reply 22, posted (3 months 3 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 2939 times:
Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 21): I've seen that story before about the KIA code but I've never seen any solid confirmation that it was ever implemented. Can anyone confirm?
mandala499 From Indonesia, joined Aug 2001, 5880 posts, RR: 74 Reply 23, posted (3 months 3 weeks 10 hours ago) and read 2909 times:
Quoting rfields5421 (Reply 5): The entire nation of Indonesia changed the ICAO codes of almost all of their airports close to 8-10 years ago. They did not change the IATA codes
Bali used to be WRRR and is now WADD, but it is still DPS for IATA.
They basically restructured the whole country so that each geographic area has similar codes.
Well, it was basic realignment... But yes, it was a mess!
WR** (Bali FIR) ceased to exist and became a sub-FIR... so all WR** codes had to change to WAD* (Makassar FIR - Bali Sub-FIR)...
DPS - WRRR became WADD
AMI - WRRA became WADA
SUB - WRSJ became WARR
MLG - WRS* became WARA
SOC - WRSQ became WARQ
SRG - WIIS (moved to Makassar FIR) became WARS
JOG - WIIJ (moved to Makassar FIR) became WARJ
BDJ - WRRB became WAOO
BPN - WRLL became WALL
TRK - WRLR became WALR
etc... etc...
Some WI** airports got recoded too...
BTH - WIID became WIDD
PNK - WIIO became WIOO
HLP - WIIH became WIHH
All WIK* airports became WID* WIO* and WIP* (eg: BTH - WIKD became WIDD, PGK - WIKK became WIPK)
Smaller WI** airports became WIH*
etc...
And 1 airport... Sorong Mainland, was WA0A, revamped to became WAXX, to replace Sorong Jeffman Island (WASS/SOQ). IATA code was given a pseudo code DEO... when ops moved to WAXX, DEO ceased to exist and it became SOQ... and after a while, Jeffman was closed, and WAXX became WASS.
There's another new airport at Lombok, WADL... has taken over the AMI code belonging to WADA. But, since the IATA code for WADL hasn't been approved, WADL operates as AMI and LOP (new pseudocode)... but then, the AIP still lists AMI as WADA... this is because of a pending final decision on whether WADA is to remain as an airbase, shrink to cater for flying schools and general aviation, or close permanently.
Confused? Yes, a lot of people are... at least, all scheduled ops has been moved to WADL.
When losing situational awareness, pray Cumulus Granitus isn't nearby !
vhqpa From Australia, joined Jul 2005, 1291 posts, RR: 1 Reply 24, posted (3 months 2 weeks 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 2778 times:
18 months ago when Maroochydore airport changed their name to Sunshine Coast airport they changed their ICAO code from YBMC to YBSU to reflect the change however thier IATA code remained MCY.
FlyASAGuy2005 From United States of America, joined Sep 2007, 5537 posts, RR: 11 Reply 26, posted (3 months 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 2329 times:
Quoting Coronado990 (Reply 2): Except that SUX is Sioux City, Iowa. Sioux Falls is FSD.
To the annoyance of those living in the area, many get this one wrong pretty often. Took me a while too but i've learned quite a few codes now spending half my work time at MSP.
CAM2:"Lightning coming out of that one." CAM1: "What?"
invader From Netherlands, joined Feb 2000, 321 posts, RR: 13 Reply 27, posted (2 months 2 weeks 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 1617 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW DATABASE EDITOR
Quoting bjorn14 (Reply 25): Why did Phoenix Gateway change from IWA to AZA?
It did not change from IWA to AZA, both codes are correct and current. IWA is the FAA code, AZA is the IATA code. The IATA code used to be CHD but was changed to AZA. This is one of the few instances where the IATA and the FAA code differ. The reason here is that IWA was already in use for Ivanovo - Yuzhny in Russia and could thus not be used for Phoenix Gateway.
Basically there are three types of airfield codes, ICAO, IATA and local codes.
The ICAO codes are assigned by national states (adhering to conventions laid down by ICAO), and sent by the states to ICAO for inclusion in Document 7910 Location Indicators. They then become official ICAO codes. Be aware that also aeronautical communication centres, state aviation departments, air traffic control centres, etc can have ICAO codes.
The IATA codes are assigned by IATA. I'm not familiar with the allocation process, but the states are not involved. I think airports can directly communicate with IATA about this. The IATA codes can be consulted at their website. Be aware that not all IATA codes are for airfields. They are meant to be used for baggage tag identification, and thus there are also a number of codes for railway stations, ferryboat stations, bus stations or city centres and such.
Local codes separate from ICAO and IATA are assigned by national civil aviation authorities. But only a few countries do so. Most of the countries only use the ICAO codes. The FAA in the USA have their own system. Others are e.g. Argentina and Canada. But there are also countries that use the ICAO conventions to assign local codes but only send a selection of those to ICAO. Only the selection are then official ICAO codes, the rest are ICAO-adhering local codes.
Many FAA codes have three letters, like DVT for Phoenix - Deer Valley. In this case it is also the official IATA code. But many people just put a "K" in front of such codes to make it an ICAO code KDVT. That is incorrect. Only the codes that are published in Document 7910 are ICAO codes, and KDVT is not listed in it. So this airfield only has the code DVT.
I hope the above helps in better understanding the code assignments.
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 18464 posts, RR: 17 Reply 29, posted (2 months 2 weeks 6 days ago) and read 1579 times:
Quoting 747classic (Reply 28): AFAIK Amsterdam Schiphol Airport had always 2 official IATA codes: AMS and SPL
According the IATA website the code "SPL" is not assigned anymore ? Any info when and why that has changed.
SPL is the IATA code for the Schiphol railway station. Not all codes appear in their website. You need the IATA Airline Coding Directory for all the codes assigned to rail and bus stations etc. For example ZYA is Amsterdam Central Station. It doesn't appear in ther website either but it's in the Airline Coding Directory. I'm guessing their website tool only covers city and airport codes, not all the secondary codes.
Why not buy it? A one-time web download only costs US$ 1339. Or, when you want to keep up-to-date, a one year subscription is of course slightly more expensive at US$ 4199. But the best bargain would be to buy it in bookform, it then only costs US$ 399
invader From Netherlands, joined Feb 2000, 321 posts, RR: 13 Reply 31, posted (2 months 2 weeks 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 1480 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW DATABASE EDITOR
Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 29): SPL is the IATA code for the Schiphol railway station
And SPL is also the VOR code for the Schiphol VOR in the Netherlands and the Split VOR in Croatia. But that's another story and these are not IATA codes anyway!
747classic From Netherlands, joined Aug 2009, 1479 posts, RR: 6 Reply 32, posted (2 months 2 weeks 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 1214 times:
Quoting 747classic (Reply 28): AFAIK Amsterdam Schiphol Airport had always 2 official IATA codes: AMS and SPL
According the IATA website the code "SPL" is not assigned anymore ? Any info when and why that has changed
I asked this question because when I joined KLM in the seventies, both codes were used. Our instructor told us that this was because Albert Plesman, the founder of KLM was also one the co-founders of IATA. It was a nice present for all the work he had done .
Rara From Germany, joined Jan 2007, 1374 posts, RR: 3 Reply 34, posted (2 months 1 week 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 879 times:
Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 1): Another coming example: SXF changes to BER when the new Berlin Brandenburg airport, replacing SXF and TXL, opens later this year.
Tiny correction, BER will be a new airport that only shares one runway with SXF. SXF will be closed and the code retired. BER already is an IATA code for Berlin, all airports (such as PAR or LON).
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