An IATA airport code , also known as an IATA location identifier , IATA station code , or simply a location identifier , is a three-letter geocode designating many airports and metropolitan areas around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The characters prominently displayed on baggage tags attached at airport check-in desks are an example of a way these codes are used.
37-460: Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport ( IATA : MYF , ICAO : KMYF , FAA LID : MYF ) is a public airport in San Diego, California , United States, six miles (10 km) north of downtown San Diego . The airport covers 456 acres (185 ha) and has three runways , one public helipad , and two private helipads. The runways are 28R/10L and 28L/10R (parallel) and 5/23. First known as Gibbs Field ,
74-550: 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
111-435: A three-letter station code (sometimes also referred to as a city code). These codes do not necessarily correspond with the list of IATA-indexed train stations or the three-character IATA airport codes , although many are the same. Amtrak began using station codes in 1992,. The station code "ENP" is used for "any stop en route, not otherwise specified". If a station code was used by more than one train station, each station
148-499: 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
185-600: 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
222-490: Is based nearby, and its aircraft are based at the airport. Since summer 2009, King Schools (in conjunction with Cessna ) has been flight testing the prototype Cessna 162 Skycatcher Light-Sport Aircraft at and around the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has maintained an air traffic control tower at the airport since 1965. It is on the north side of the airport, just east of taxiway C and runway 5/23. It operates from 0600 to 2100 local time. In April 2021,
259-518: 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
296-650: 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 ,
333-513: 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
370-414: Is listed. However, if a station code was used for a Thruway Motorcoach stop that has changed locations, only information for the current location (or most recent location, if the stop is no longer in service) is included in the notes, unless one of the locations was an actual train station. Ridership data and station ownership is from Amtrak's Great American Stations website. The ownership of many stations
407-532: 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
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#1733094235239444-458: Is shared, with one entity owning one or more of the following: the facility itself, the parking lot, the passenger platform, and the train tracks. In some instances, the owner of the bus station used for a Thruway Motorcoach stop is not the same as the connection service provider. Many stations do not offer full services (ticketing, baggage, etc.). Some stations and Thruway Motorcoach stops are conditional or flag stops , with trains only stopping at
481-416: 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
518-561: 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
555-487: The Amtrak stations are several "tour only" stations which require special reservations with Amtrak for a group (usually twenty or more persons) for the train to stop at that station (such stations include Allensworth State Park and Marceline stations). There are also several "stations" (many of which are not actually train stations at all) which only operate in conjunction with regular special events (such "stations"/events include
592-646: 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 . List of Amtrak stations This is a list of train stations and Amtrak Thruway stops used by Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation in
629-510: The United States). This list is in alphabetical order by station or stop name, which mostly corresponds to the city in which it is located. If an English Misplaced Pages page exists for the actual station or stop, a link is included. Some Thruway Motorcoach stops include train stations that are not served by Amtrak trains (and occasionally any trains at all). All current (and most former) Amtrak train stops (stations) and Thruway Motorcoach stops have
666-481: 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
703-442: The airport completed a $ 10 million upgrade that included six new hangars; a fueling facility for private jets and propeller planes; and a new two-story, 9,000 square-foot building containing a flight school and an executive lounge for business travelers. [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency IATA airport code The assignment of these codes
740-440: 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,
777-534: The airport opened in July 1940 as an all-way clay and gravel surface airfield. It was founded by William Gibbs (1910–2016). In 1950, the airport was renamed Montgomery Field in honor of John Joseph Montgomery , an aviation pioneer who, in 1884 to 1886, made the first manned, controlled, heavier-than-air flights in the United States from Otay Mesa , south of San Diego, starting with a glider designed in 1883. Montgomery-Gibbs assumed its current name in 2016 to recognize both of
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#1733094235239814-418: 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
851-744: The airport's previous namesakes. During World War II , the United States Army Air Forces assumed control of the airport and built three hard runways. It was called "Gibbs Auxiliary Field" and used as a support airfield for the contractor pilot school at Ryan Field , near Hemet . It also supported training activities at the United States Army Desert Training Center (DTC) in the Mojave Desert , and later as an auxiliary airfield for Lindbergh Field in San Diego. It
888-491: 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
925-919: 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
962-557: 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
999-474: 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
1036-593: 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
1073-482: 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
1110-612: 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
1147-416: 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
Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-501: 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
1221-497: 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
1258-581: The station if reservations for a pickup or drop off are made in advance. Some stations are seasonal with trains or buses stopping only during certain times of the year. Although Amtrak primarily serves the United States, three routes also serve Canada. The Maple Leaf is jointly operated with Via Rail Canada , while the Adirondack and Cascades are exclusively operated by Amtrak. There are also eight Thruway Motorcoach stops in British Columbia. Among
1295-504: 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
1332-529: 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
1369-501: Was used presumably as an overflow airfield to store newly manufactured B-24 Liberator bombers and PBY Catalina amphibian aircraft made by Consolidated Aircraft . Following the war, the airport returned to civil control. Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport is one of the busiest airports in the U.S. for small aircraft and has a number of flying clubs and flight schools . Business turboprops and jets are based there. The San Diego Fire Department bases aircraft there. King Schools, Inc.
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