The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published quarterly in ICAO Document 7910: Location Indicators , are used by air traffic control and airline operations such as flight planning . ICAO codes are also used to identify other aviation facilities such as weather stations , international flight service stations or area control centers , whether or not they are located at airports. Flight information regions are also identified by a unique ICAO-code.
33-504: Marine Corps Air Station El Toro ( ICAO : KNZJ , FAA LID : NZJ ) was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro, near Irvine, California . Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the 4,682-acre (19 km) home of Marine Corps Aviation on the West Coast. Designated as a Master Jet Base , its four runways (two of 8,000 feet (2,400 m) and two of 10,000 feet (3,000 m)) could handle
66-548: A blimp base. Construction of MCAS El Toro began on 3 August 1942 on land previously owned by the Irvine Company . The company greatly resisted the station's construction at this site, which at the time contained the largest lima bean field in North America, which was the company's prime source of revenue. The name "El Toro" came from the nearby small community of El Toro, now incorporated as Lake Forest , which in 1940 only had
99-505: A political firestorm over the eventual fate of the facility. With the existing infrastructure, some favored converting the base into an international airport . Those favoring the new airport tended to come from northern Orange County (desiring the convenience of a closer airport), and from areas in Newport Beach that are within the arrival and departure noise zones surrounding John Wayne Airport (hoping to close that airport in favor of
132-466: A population of 130 people. The base headquarters was established on 4 November 1942, and the first landing occurred in late November when Major Michael Carmichael, flying from Camp Kearny , was forced to make an emergency landing among the construction equipment. The runways and taxiways were completed by 1 December 1942, and all squadron hangars were complete by 15 January 1943. Barracks and officer's quarters were ready by 20 January. January 1943 also saw
165-474: Is a pseudo-code, used in flight plans for aerodromes with no ICAO code assigned. ICAO codes are sometimes updated. Johannesburg Airport in Johannesburg , South Africa, for instance, was formerly known as Jan Smuts International Airport, with code FAJS. When the airport was renamed O. R. Tambo International Airport, its ICAO code was updated to FAOR. Some airports have two ICAO codes, usually when an airport
198-711: Is based in the United Kingdom . On the other hand, IATA codes do not provide geographic reference. For example, LHR, representing Heathrow, does not enable one to deduce the location of the airport LHV with any greater certainty; it is William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania in the United States . There are a few exceptions to the regional structure of the ICAO code that have been historically for political or administrative reasons. RAF Mount Pleasant air base in
231-482: Is partly delegated to authorities in each country, while IATA codes, which have no geographic structure, must be decided centrally by IATA. The first one or two letters of the ICAO code indicate the country; the remaining letters identify the airport. ICAO codes are used partly for geographical context. For example, the ICAO code for Heathrow International Airport in London, is EGLL, with its first letters reflecting that it
264-679: Is shared by civilian and military users. Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt , Germany, for instance, has been assigned ICAO code EDDF while Rhein-Main Air Base was assigned ICAO code EDAF until its closure. Sion Airport in Switzerland has code LSGS while its military facilities have the ICAO code LSMS. Brussels Airport in Brussels , Belgium, has the ICAO code EBBR for its civilian facilities, and Melsbroek Air Base has been assigned ICAO code EBMB, even though
297-528: The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing to El Toro. During the presidency of Richard Nixon , MCAS El Toro was used for flights to and from his " Western White House " at San Clemente, California . On 9 August 1974, after resigning the Presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal , Richard and Pat Nixon flew from Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland to El Toro aboard VC-137C SAM 27000 . The land originally surrounding
330-673: The Falkland Islands , for instance, is assigned the ICAO code EGYP as though it were in the United Kingdom, but nearby civilian Port Stanley Airport is assigned SFAL, consistent with South America . Saint Pierre and Miquelon is controlled by France, and airports there are assigned LFxx as though they were in Europe. Kosovo is assigned the code BKxx grouping it with Greenland and Iceland rather than its geographical neighbors which have Lxxx (described below). Jerusalem International Airport
363-517: The Fleet Marine Force, Pacific . To support this new role, the aviation infrastructure at El Toro was expanded significantly. For most of the ensuing years, El Toro served as the primary base for Marine Corps west coast fighter squadrons. During the 1960s, many US Marines left for and returned from the Vietnam War at El Toro MCAS. In 1958, Marine Corps Air Station Miami was closed which brought
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#1732859088116396-599: The Jezero Crater on Mars is assigned the special ICAO code JZRO. Codes beginning with I (Ixx and Ixxx) are often used for navigational aids such as radio beacons, while the Q code is reserved for international radiocommunications and non-geographical special use. In Russia , Latin letter X, or its Morse / Baudot Cyrillic equivalent Ь , are used to designate government, military, and experimental aviation airfields in internal airfield codes similar in structure and purpose to ICAO codes but not used internationally. ZZZZ
429-563: The IATA code for London 's Heathrow Airport is LHR and its ICAO code is EGLL. IATA codes are commonly seen by passengers and the general public on flight-tracking services such as FlightAware . In general IATA codes are usually derived from the name of the airport or the city it serves, while ICAO codes are distributed by region and country. Far more aerodromes (in the broad sense) have ICAO codes than IATA codes, which are sometimes assigned to railway stations as well. The selection of ICAO codes
462-519: The Marine Corps' West Coast air stations. Fox sought the most expeditious and low cost option and thus chose the already existing airports of El Centro , Mojave and Santa Barbara . For the fourth station, he chose land that had previously been looked at by the U.S. Navy for a blimp base. The Marine Corps gave the owner of the land, a farmer named James Irvine Sr. , $ 100,000 for 4,000 acres (20 km) including 1,600 acres (6.5 km) designated for
495-575: The Navy hired the General Services Administration and Los Angeles-based Colliers International to assist in the sale of MCAS El Toro. Colliers branded the project as Heritage Fields combining the long-standing history of the base and what the future of the base will be to the community and the generations to come. An online auction was conducted and in February 2005, the final bid of $ 650 million
528-622: The airport opponents prevailed, and in March 2002, the Department of Defense announced that it would sell the land to private interests to be developed into Orange County Great Park . While many county residents were not persuaded of the need for a larger airport, regional transportation planners insisted that the county must share in handling a greater portion of the millions of passengers traveling by air in Southern California. The Department of
561-425: The base was mostly used for agricultural purposes when it first opened, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s, residential development began in the area; most of it was directly in the path of the base's runways, which proved to be a major problem as the constant loud noise produced by jets and helicopters passing overhead was very irritating to those living in the area. Few desired to move there because of this, causing
594-481: The first commanding officer. Soon after its opening, MCAS El Toro was handling the largest tactical aerodrome traffic on the Pacific Coast. Already the largest Marine Corps air station on the West Coast, in 1944, funds were approved to double its size and operations. By the end of 1944, the base was home to 1,248 officers and 6,831 enlisted personnel. In 1950, El Toro was selected as a permanent Master Jet Base for
627-457: The first operational units arriving at MCAS El Toro. First aboard were Marine Aircraft Group 41 and VMF-113 . They were followed later in the month by VMSB-142 , VMF-224 , VMSB-231 and VMSB-232 , who were returning from fighting during the Battle of Guadalcanal in order to re-organize, re-equip and train. The station was formally commissioned on 17 March 1943, with Colonel Theodore B. Millard as
660-509: The largest aircraft in the U.S. military inventory. While it was active, all U.S. Presidents in the post- World War II era landed in Air Force One at this airfield. The El Toro "Flying Bull" patch was designed by Walt Disney Studios in 1944. It survived virtually unchanged until the close of the Air Station. Following its decommissioning the site was used as a filming location, including
693-517: The new neighborhoods to struggle. In 1993, MCAS El Toro was designated for closing by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission and all of its activities were to be transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar . The station officially closed on 2 July 1999. Before the site could be developed for civilian use, the Department of the Navy (which oversees both the Navy and the Marine Corps)
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#1732859088116726-500: The new one at El Toro). Those against the airport proposal were largely residents of the cities in the immediate vicinity of El Toro, such as Irvine , Lake Forest , Laguna Niguel , Laguna Woods , Dana Point , and Mission Viejo , where residents were alarmed at the idea of the aircraft noise. The cities opposed to the airport created a joint powers authority, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA), to oppose
759-424: The project. They were joined in the effort by grassroots organizations that collected record numbers of signatures on petitions to place anti-airport initiatives on the ballot and raised funds for the election campaigns. This faction lobbied strongly in favor of other uses for the property. The city of Irvine sought to annex the property for park and related uses. In November 1994, voters passed Measure A, designating
792-507: The property to Heritage Fields LLC was held on 29 August 2005. [REDACTED] Media related to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro at Wikimedia Commons ICAO airport code The recommendations for ICAO airport codes were adopted on 24 March 1959, and came into force on 1 October the same year. ICAO codes are separate and different from IATA codes , the latter of which have three letters and are generally used for airline timetables , reservations, and baggage tags. For example,
825-524: The property's land use to commercial aviation in the Orange County General Plan . A March 1996 ballot measure attempted to overturn Measure A, but failed. Since that time, the county released reports recommending conversion of El Toro into a commercial airport. The battle between pro-airport and anti-airport groups dominated Orange County politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s. From 1994 to 2001, $ 80 million in county and city funds
858-576: The style LFddnn , where dd indicates the department while nn is a sequential counter. The French Federation of Ultralight Motorized Gliders was formally named the keeper of these codes. Aerodrome de Torreilles in France, for instance, has code LF6651. In Antarctica many aerodromes have pseudo ICAO-codes with AT and two digits, while others have proper codes from countries performing air control such as NZ for New Zealand . Marine Corps Air Station Miami Too Many Requests If you report this error to
891-567: The test track for the United States version of the BBC's Top Gear franchise. About 1,300 acres (530 ha) of land originally taken by the air station was converted into a large recreational center, the Orange County Great Park , while the rest was re-zoned for residential and commercial development. In May 1942, Lieutenant Colonel William Fox was directed to select the sites for all of
924-515: The two airports share runways and ground and air control facilities. In small countries like Belgium or the Netherlands, almost all aerodromes have an ICAO code. For larger countries like the UK or Germany this is not feasible, given the limited number of letter codes. Some countries have addressed this issue by introducing a scheme of sub-ICAO aerodrome codes; France, for example, assigns pseudo ICAO codes in
957-621: The west of the station. In July 2005, the Department of the Navy's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Program Management Office (PMO) issued a public notice stating that the cleanup of the contaminated soil was complete. The cleanup of the groundwater is being handled by the Irvine Desalter Project, a project of two local water authorities that has financial backing from the Navy and the State of California . The closing of MCAS El Toro ignited
990-477: Was accepted for the four parcels of land comprising the former MCAS El Toro. The auction winner was Heritage Fields LLC, a joint venture between Lennar and several other firms. Development plans for the 3,724 acres (15 km) site include residential, golf , commercial, R&D , and schools . 1,375 acres (5.6 km) of the site will be dedicated to the Great Park. A ceremony to formally transfer ownership of
1023-691: Was assigned both LLJR (its Israeli persona) as well as OJJR (its Jordanian persona), but the airport itself fell into disuse. In the contiguous United States and Canada, many airports have ICAO codes that are simply copies of their three-letter IATA codes, with the geographical prefix added on (e.g., YEG and CYEG both refer to Edmonton International Airport , while IAD and KIAD both refer to Washington Dulles International Airport ). This similarity does not extend to Alaska (PAxx), Hawaii (PHxx), or U.S. territories. Kahului Airport on Maui , for instance, has an IATA code of OGG and an ICAO code of PHOG. ICAO airport codes do not begin with I or J or X or Q, though
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1056-508: Was required to perform environmental remediation to clean up contaminated soil on the site. The contamination was caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs), primarily industrial solvents that had been used over the years for purposes such as degreasing, paint stripping, and the cleaning of aircraft. Over the years, the VOCs had seeped into the groundwater , resulting in a plume of contaminated groundwater extending for three miles (5 km) to
1089-524: Was spent on campaigning for both sides. Airport proposals were defeated in two hotly contested ballot initiatives , and further challenges took place in the courts. A series of demonstration commercial flights from the airport in June 1999 generated less noise than the former military flights, but resulted in much public outcry due to the use of different flight paths from the military, and incessant circling over nearby cities to line up for another approach. Eventually
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