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80-563: Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport ( IATA : CAN , ICAO : ZGGG ) or often branded as BAIYUNPORT is an international airport serving Guangzhou , the capital of South Central China 's Guangdong province. The airport codes were inherited from the former Baiyun Airport , and the IATA code is derived from Guangzhou's historical romanization Canton . Baiyun Airport serves as a hub for China Southern Airlines , FedEx Express , 9 Air , Hainan Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines . In 2020, due to

160-602: A frequent-flyer program of a full member: Copa Airlines already used Continental 's OnePass ; Kenya Airways and Air Europa used Air France–KLM 's Flying Blue . Following a 23-month joining process since May 2004  ( 2004-05 ) , Aeroflot joined on 14 April 2006. It was the first Russian airline to be associated with any airline alliance. Aeroflot had increased its operational standards, passing International Air Transport Association 's (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). Delta 's subsidiary Song continued to operate as Delta Air Lines. In June, it

240-469: A memorandum of understanding with SkyTeam as it intended to become a full member. The event took place in the Kremlin following the airline's application earlier in the year for membership. SkyTeam expressed that Aeroflot has not met the consortium's standards, but that the airline's large hub networks made it ideal for the alliance, and made up for its deficiencies. On 28 August, China Southern Airlines ,

320-1076: A centralized management based in Amsterdam . The consortium also named a new managing director, Marie-Joseph Malé, outlined a timeline for the opening of its co-located facilities at London Heathrow Airport , and unveiled a new special livery. In September 2009  ( 2009-09 ) , Olympic Air entered into a codeshare agreement with Delta, a deal that was part of Olympic's intention to join SkyTeam and engage in further discussions with Delta's joint venture partner Air France–KLM. However, ties were cut in 2013 after Star Alliance member Aegean Airlines acquired Olympic Air. To start 2010, Northwest Airlines ' and Delta Air Lines ' operating certificates were officially combined on 1 January, while on 9 March, China Southern Airlines announced its plans to join SkyTeam Cargo . With membership expected to be granted in November

400-514: A full member following a joining ceremony held in Hanoi . The airline became the first SkyTeam carrier from Southeast Asia, where Star Alliance has a strong presence through Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways International . With an extra 20 unique destinations added to SkyTeam's route map, Vietnam Airlines helped to strengthen the alliance's foothold in the region. On 22 June, the CEOs and chairmen of

480-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

560-512: A replacement for the 72-year-old, identically named former airport , which is now closed. Built at a cost of 19.8 billion yuan , the new airport is 28 kilometres (17 mi) north of downtown Guangzhou and nearly five times larger than its predecessor. "Baiyun" ( 白云 ) means "white cloud" in Chinese and refers to the Baiyun Mountain ( Baiyunshan ), near the former airport even though the mountain

640-411: A third runway, 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) in length and 60 metres (200 ft) in width, located 400 metres (1,300 ft) to the east of the existing east runway. The centrepiece of the project is a 880,700 m (9,480,000 sq ft) Terminal 2. Other facilities comprise new indoor and outdoor car parks and a transportation centre with metro and inter-city train services. The total cost of

720-522: A total floor space of 82,000 square metres (880,000 sq ft). At the beginning of operation, the hub employed more than 800 people and operated 136 flights a week, providing delivery services among 20 major cities in Asia and linking these cities to more than 220 countries and territories in the world. The Guangzhou hub was, at the time of the opening, the largest FedEx hub outside the United States, but it

800-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

880-544: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

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960-515: Is based in Amstelveen , Netherlands. On 22 June 2000, representatives of Delta Air Lines , Aeroméxico , Air France , and Korean Air held a meeting in New York to form a third airline alliance . These became the four founding carriers of SkyTeam. Upon its formation, SkyTeam would offer its customers 6,402 daily flights to 451 destinations in 98 countries. In September 2000  ( 2000-09 ) ,

1040-543: Is connected to downtown Guangzhou by the S41 Guangzhou Airport Expressway. Guangzhou–Foshan circular intercity railway , which is under construction, will serve Baiyun Airport North railway station (for Terminal 2), Baiyun Airport South railway station (for Terminal 1) and Baiyun Airport East railway station (for Terminal 3) in the airport. The rail will connect the airport to the Panyu railway station and

1120-518: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

1200-603: Is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

1280-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

1360-437: Is much closer to downtown Guangzhou than it is to the new airport. It is also referred to as "New Baiyun" to distinguish it from the previous airport, but this is not a part of the official name. Former curfews and restrictions did not apply to the new airport, so it could operate 24 hours a day, allowing China Southern Airlines to maximise intercontinental route utilisation with overnight flights. Other airlines also benefit from

1440-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

1520-477: Is under construction on the south side of terminal 2; passengers will be able to go to Guangzhou downtown by taking metro, rail, bus or taxi there. On 13 July 2005, FedEx Express signed a contract with the airport authority to relocate its Asia-Pacific hub from Subic Bay International Airport in the Philippines to Baiyun Airport. The new Asia-Pacific hub covers an area of approximate 63 hectares (160 acres), with

1600-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

1680-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

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1760-611: The Huadu railway station . Baiyun International Airport is served by the Airport South Station (serving Terminal 1) and the Airport North Station (serving Terminal 2) on Line 3 of Guangzhou Metro . In the future, Guangzhou Metro Line 22 may serve the airport, connecting it to downtown Guangzhou. There are five Airport Express lines and six Airport Non-stop lines between airport and downtown. Buses take passengers to

1840-516: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation in other countries, it was temporarily the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic, handling 43.8 million passengers. In 2023, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was the world's twelfth- busiest airport by passenger traffic , with 63.1 million passengers handled, and the busiest in China . As for cargo traffic, the airport was China's second-busiest and

1920-503: The 13 member airlines gathered in New York to celebrate the alliance's 10th anniversary. During its first decade of operation, the world's second-largest airline alliance more than tripled its membership, doubled its flights and nearly doubled its destinations. On the same day, SkyTeam announced that it had renewed its membership program, thereby upgrading Air Europa , Kenya Airways and TAROM statuses from associate to full members. During

2000-521: The National Development and Reform Commission of China. After the expansion, Baiyun Airport will have three terminals, a satellite concourse, five runways and a high-speed railway station. The airport will be able to handle 120 million passengers, 3.8 million tons freight and 775,000 aircraft movements a year. The whole expansion project is estimated to be finished in 2025. There is a free shuttle bus that goes between Terminals 1 and 2. The airport

2080-561: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . SkyTeam SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances . Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam

2160-419: The U.S.–Japan Open Skies agreement . Eventually, Japan Airlines opted to remain at Oneworld, citing that the transfer to SkyTeam would confuse its passengers and may not gain antitrust immunity from U.S. regulators. SkyTeam received its second application for full membership within five months. China Airlines , Taiwan 's flag carrier and largest airline, announced in mid-September that it had formally started

2240-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

2320-499: The airline joining SkyTeam and would sharply increase the alliance's footprint in London . Rivals Star Alliance and Etihad Airlines were also investigating competing options about Virgin Atlantic. China Eastern Airlines joined the alliance on 21 June 2011, along with its subsidiary , Shanghai Airlines , to become the 14th member. Later in 2011, on 28 September, China Airlines joined

2400-644: The airline leave SkyTeam and join Star Alliance. The European Commission approved Lufthansa Group's purchase of a 41% stake in ITA Airways in July 2024. ITA would leave SkyTeam and join Star Alliance in 2026 or 2027. In February 2022, both Delta and KLM announced plans to suspend their codesharing agreements with Aeroflot in connection with the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Subsequently, on 27 April, SkyTeam and Aeroflot announced that Aeroflot's membership with

2480-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

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2560-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

2640-699: The alliance (as opposed to a full member, an associate has no voting rights), Malév Hungarian Airlines opted to join the Oneworld airline alliance, signing a memorandum of understanding late in May. A few days later, SkyTeam announced four new associate members due to join by 2006, each one being "sponsored" by an existing member: Madrid -based Air Europa (sponsored by Air France), Panama-based Copa Airlines (sponsored and partly owned by Continental Airlines ), Kenya Airways (sponsored and partly owned by KLM ) and Romania's TAROM (sponsored by Alitalia ). Every associate adopted

2720-501: The alliance established a cargo alliance, SkyTeam Cargo . The group's inaugural members were Aeromexpress, Air France Cargo, Delta Air Logistics and Korean Air Cargo. The following month, the newly established airline alliance announced its intentions to incorporate CSA Czech Airlines as the 5th member in April of the following year. The alliance saw the joining of CSA Czech Airlines on 25 March 2001; Alitalia entered SkyTeam on 27 July

2800-552: The alliance was suspended. On 2 March 2023, Virgin Atlantic joined the alliance, making it the 19th member and the first UK airline of the alliance. On October 2023, as a part of the restructuring of Scandinavian Airlines' parent company SAS Group , Air France-KLM, along with the Government of Denmark and two financial firms announced plans to invest in Scandinavian Airlines. In March 2024, US Bankruptcy Court approved

2880-571: The alliance. On 4 November 2019, the International Airlines Group (IAG) announced it had agreed terms to purchase Air Europa and that the airline would leave SkyTeam if the deal succeeded. The COVID-19 pandemic and antitrust concerns delayed the sale. Negotiations resumed in March 2022 when IAG agreed to grant Air Europa a €100 million loan convertible into a 20% stake. In February 2023, negotiations were completed and IAG agreed to buy

2960-597: The alliance. China Southern Airlines joined SkyTeam on 15 November to become the 11th full member and the first carrier from China to join the alliance. In June 2008  ( 2008-06 ) , following an agreement between Continental Airlines and United Airlines , the former, as well as Copa Airlines, announced their intentions to move to Star Alliance after Continental's final flight with SkyTeam on 24 October 2009. That day, as announced, Continental Airlines and Copa Airlines simultaneously left SkyTeam. Continental Airlines joined Star Alliance three days later; at

3040-484: The alliance. In November the same year, Xiamen Airlines committed to be incorporated as a full member by the end of 2012, with their entry supported by China Southern Airlines . On 29 May 2012, Saudi Arabian Airlines became both the first carrier to join the alliance in 2012 and the first one based in the Middle East , which brought the total members to 16. The same day of its incorporation, Saudi Arabian Airlines

3120-469: The cargo division of Aerolíneas Argentinas, joined the alliance in November ;2013  ( 2013-11 ) . Saudia Cargo joined the alliance on 15 April 2019. SkyTeam launched a special livery in 2009, coinciding with the alliance's 10th anniversary, with Delta Air Lines being the first airline to paint one of its aircraft with these colours. The livery consisted of an all-metallic silver fuselage and

3200-526: The ceremony, the Board outlined its plans to recruit members from Latin America , South America and India. Three days later, TAROM officially became the 13th SkyTeam member. As a part of the celebration, SkyTeam offered reductions of round-the-world fares and other promotions. Following the 10th anniversary, SkyTeam intended to enhance customers' travel experience and deepen cooperation among its members to supplement

3280-506: The city's major hotels, grand plaza and transportation centre, such as the Garden Hotel, Guangdong Hotel, CITIC Plaza, Haizhu Square, Tianhe Coach Station, and Guangzhou North Station. To service passengers out of Guangzhou city, the airport also provides intercity bus service. The buses will take passengers from/to Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and other destinations. IATA airport code The assignment of these codes

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3360-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

3440-919: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

3520-469: The entire project was estimated to be around ¥ 18.854 billion. Construction of the third runway began in 2012 and the runway commenced operation in early 2015. The whole project including the new terminal was scheduled to be finished in February 2018, at which time the airport will be able to handle 80 million passengers and 2.5 million tonnes of cargo a year. The third phase expansion plan has been approved by

3600-617: The expansion into regions that are yet to have SkyTeam members. In South America, India and Africa, it is clear there will be a significant battle for positioning to lure good carriers in your alliance. During the year, Delta Air Lines offered US$ 1.02  billion to Japan Airlines after the Asian airline filed for bankruptcy due to US$ 26  billion debt, at the same time lobbying Oneworld 's largest member in Asia to switch to SkyTeam. Delta, along with American Airlines , wanted Japan Airlines to be in their respective alliances to benefit from

3680-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

3760-523: The following evening. As of September 2024 , the following airlines are members of SkyTeam: Founding member. SkyTeam Cargo is the cargo division of SkyTeam. As of April 2024 , the cargo alliance comprised nine members from the passenger alliance: Aeroméxico Cargo , Air France-KLM Cargo (include Air France Cargo and KLM Cargo ), China Cargo Airlines , Czech Airlines Cargo , Delta Cargo , ITA Airways Cargo , Korean Air Cargo and Saudia Cargo . Aerolíneas Argentinas Cargo ,

3840-474: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

3920-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

4000-512: The fourth member in Mainland China , with the overall number of members in the alliance rising to 19. In late June 2013  ( 2013-06 ) , the Russian newspaper Kommersant published an article that mentions that Aeroflot was considering leaving the alliance over disagreements with Delta on the pricing on some routes to North America . The report also mentioned that the Russian carrier

4080-533: The future under its parent company, future SkyTeam member China Eastern Airlines . This bolstered SkyTeam's presence in the People's Republic of China and surrounding areas, making SkyTeam the number one alliance in the region. Garuda Indonesia formally started its joining process on 23 November and was scheduled to be integrated by 2012. Upon joining, the airline became the second Southeast Asian airline to join SkyTeam, therefore challenging Star Alliance 's dominance in

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4160-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

4240-641: The international community, as it will strengthen the airline's international cooperation and global competitiveness." On 13 September, Continental Airlines , KLM and Northwest Airlines joined the alliance. Their simultaneous entry was the largest expansion event in airline alliance history. As a result of the three new members, SkyTeam surpassed Oneworld to become the second largest airline alliance, serving more than 341 million customers with 14,320 daily flights to 658 destinations in 130 countries. Even though member CSA Czech Airlines pledged to help Malév Hungarian Airlines become an associate member of

4320-405: The investment along with Stockholm District Court in 12 June 2024 and European Commission on 28 June 2024. As a result of the approval for the investment, Scandinavian Airlines left Star Alliance on 31 August 2024 and joined SkyTeam in 1 September 2024. On 26 October 2024, Czech Airlines left SkyTeam and ceased operations following changes in operating model. The last flight arrived from Paris

4400-464: The joining process. Upon joining, the airline's route network supplemented those of China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines , allowing cooperation among the three airlines. The following month, Aerolíneas Argentinas signed an agreement to officially start the process of becoming the first South American SkyTeam member. The airline was set to join in 2012. On 1 November, Shanghai Airlines exited from Star Alliance to join SkyTeam in

4480-468: The largest carrier in the People's Republic of China, signed a preliminary agreement in Guangzhou in its bid to become a full member. In the presence of some Chinese and airline officials, Yan Zhiqing, the chairman of China Southern Airlines, said, "This agreement-signing event is an important step forward into the future for China Southern Airlines to adapt itself to the need of further reforms and opening to

4560-591: The last flight leaving for Taiwan just before dawn, while hub operations have moved to Baiyun Airport. The first flight that arrived at the new FedEx Asia-Pacific hub originated from Indianapolis International Airport . The MD-11 aircraft landed at 23:07 local time at Baiyun International Airport from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, marking the opening and full operations of the new Asia-Pacific hub. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport now has three runways. The third runway opened on 5 February 2015, which temporarily tackled

4640-490: The long‐standing capacity obstacle. The operation of the third runway expanded Baiyun Airport's capacity, pushing business up. Unfortunately, the third runway can only be used for landing, as its airspace conflicts with Foshan Shadi Airport . The airport is planning to build two additional runways. In August 2008, the airport's expansion plan was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission . It included

4720-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

4800-456: The necessary time to fully test all systems and processes, as well as work closely with the Guangzhou authorities to ensure all necessary approvals are in place". On 17 December 2008, the hub completed its first flight operations test. A FedEx MD-11 aircraft took off from Subic Bay International Airport in the Philippines and landed at Baiyun Airport at 05:50 local time. The flight was handled by

4880-562: The new FedEx hub team, using the FedEx ramp control tower and the new 24,000 package per hour sort system. Following a successful operations' process, the flight departed on time for its final destination at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. This Asia-Europe flight route operated four times per week during test run. FedEx also announced that the hub would start operation on 6 February 2009. FedEx closed its 13-year-old Asia-Pacific hub at Subic Bay of northern Philippines on 6 February 2009, with

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4960-439: The new advanced system, up to 24,000 packages can be sorted an hour at the start of operations. Construction began in 2006 and the hub was originally scheduled to open on 26 December 2008. On 17 November 2008, after several months of testing, FedEx announced that the opening date was delayed to the first half of 2009 when the hub was expected to be fully operational. FedEx claimed that the revised operation date "provided FedEx with

5040-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

5120-534: The region through Thai Airways International and Singapore Airlines . On 10 January 2011, Saudi Arabian Airlines signed an agreement to join SkyTeam in 2012. On 28 February the same year, Middle East Airlines agreed to join the alliance. Member airlines Delta and Air France–KLM appointed Goldman Sachs in late February 2011  ( 2011-02 ) to advise them on a potential bid for Sir Richard Branson 's 51% stake in Virgin Atlantic , which could lead to

5200-683: The remaining 80% stake in Air Europa (which it plans to keep as a separate brand but have managed by Iberia ) for €400 million, subject to European regulatory approval. In August 2024, IAG abandon the deal after deeming additional remedies to address EU antitrust conditions too onerous to make the deal viable. On 15 October 2021, Alitalia ceased operations, departing the alliance. Its successor, ITA Airways , joined SkyTeam on 29 October 2021. In 2023, Lufthansa , after confirming its initial acquisition of 41% of ITA Airways, said its plans included gaining total ownership of ITA's shares by 2028 and having

5280-623: The removal of previous restrictions. Terminal 1 has three components, Main Terminal, Area A and Area B. All check-in counters and most retail stores are placed at the Main Terminal. The two concourses controlled by individual security checkpoints, named Area A and Area B, are the boarding gates, security checkpoints, border control, customs and quarantine, baggage reclaim and relative facilities. Since 24 January 2016, East Piers 1 and 2 are dedicated to serve international flights; domestic flights occupy

5360-717: The rest. Terminal 2 opened on 26 April 2018, with an area measuring over 808,700 square metres, making it one of the world's largest airport terminal facilities. Terminal 2 is the main hub of China Southern Airlines , while also housing airlines such as China Airlines , Korean Air , Vietnam Airlines , Garuda Indonesia , Saudia , Thai Airways International , Sichuan Airlines , Aeroflot , Egyptair , Singapore Airlines , AirAsia , Qatar Airways , Kenya Airways , Japan Airlines , All Nippon Airways , Asiana Airlines , Air Tanzania , Cathay Pacific , and more. Most SkyTeam and few Star Alliance member airlines will also typically operate in Terminal 2. The new transport centre (GTC)

5440-501: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

5520-517: The same year, with its membership scheduled to become effective 1 November that year. On 30 September 2001, the alliance received KLM's application for membership, following the airline's plans to create a leading airline group with Air France. In 2003, Delta 's subsidiary, Delta Express , was replaced by Song . That same year, SkyTeam also launched an improved website focused on providing passengers with more information, increased interactivity and other resources. On 24 May 2004, Aeroflot signed

5600-422: The same year, the airline was to be the first Chinese carrier to join a global air cargo alliance. On 16 April China Eastern Airlines announced its intention to join SkyTeam, with the official joining ceremony initially expected to occur by mid-2011. The announcement came shortly after the airline's merger with Shanghai Airlines , a member of SkyTeam's rival Star Alliance . On 10 June, Vietnam Airlines became

5680-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

5760-403: The time, it was rumored that the switch was Continental's initial move in a United-Continental merger. In April 2009  ( 2009-04 ) , the alliance signed a preliminary agreement with Vietnam Airlines for the airline to become a full member in 2010. Also in 2009, Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane re-launched operations as the new Alitalia , and the alliance announced initiatives towards

5840-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

5920-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

6000-418: The world's eleventh-busiest . The old Baiyun Airport opened in 1932. Due to the expansion of Guangzhou, the airport could not expand to meet passengers needs as buildings and mountains surrounded the airport. On 5 August 2004, the new Baiyun Airport opened and the old airport was closed. The current airport is located in the outskirts of Guangzhou's Baiyun District and Huadu and opened on 5 August 2004 as

6080-464: Was announced that Portugália would become the alliance's next associate member candidate. However, in November, rival airline and Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal , purchased 99.81% of the airline, bringing a sudden end to its candidacy. On 4 September 2007, Air Europa, Copa Airlines, and Kenya Airways became members of SkyTeam's Associate program, which was launched to serve airlines in strategic regions which intended to become affiliated with

6160-606: Was considering joining Star Alliance . To assess the benefits of the SkyTeam membership, a study was carried out in July; following it, the Aeroflot board reaffirmed its position within the alliance in September ;2013  ( 2013-09 ) . Garuda Indonesia became the 20th member of the alliance on 5 March 2014. Garuda initially expected to gain SkyTeam membership in 2012, but the joining process took 40 months to be completed. On 31 December 2018, China Southern Airlines left

6240-513: Was later surpassed by the expanded hub at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport . The hub has its own ramp control tower, a first for an international air express cargo company facility in China, which enables FedEx to control aircraft movements on the ground, aircraft parking plans as well as loading and unloading priorities. Included at the hub are a unique package and sorting system with 16 high-speed sorting lines, seven round-out conveyor belts and 90 primary and secondary document-sorting splits. With

6320-451: Was renamed to Saudia. Middle East Airlines became the 17th member of the alliance a month later, following its incorporation on 28 June 2012. On 29 August 2012, Aerolíneas Argentinas became the first South American and the second Latin American airline in joining the alliance, bringing the number of members to 18. Following its incorporation on 21 November 2012, Xiamen Airlines became

6400-456: Was the last of the three alliances to be formed, the first two being Star Alliance and Oneworld , respectively. Its annual passenger count is 624 million customers (2024), the second largest of the three major alliances. As of October 2024 , SkyTeam consists of 19 active carriers; it also operates a cargo alliance named SkyTeam Cargo , which partners with ten carriers, all SkyTeam members. Its centralised management team, SkyTeam Central,

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