IATA code
Encyclopedia
IATA codes are abbreviations that the International Air Transport Association
(IATA) publishes to facilitate air travel. They are typically 1-, 2-, 3-, or 4-character combinations (referred to as unigrams, digrams
, trigram
s, or tetragram
s, respectively) that uniquely identify locations, equipment, companies, and times to standardize international flight operations. All codes within each group follow a pattern (same number of characters, and using either all letters or letter/digit combinations) to reduce the potential for error.
s are trigram letter designations for airport
s, like "ORY" (Paris-Orly Airport) and "CPT" (Cape Town International Airport
).
companies, like "M6" (Amerijet), "NH" (All Nippon Airways
), and "4A" (Air Kiribati
).
s are trigram letter/digit codes used for aircraft
models, like "J41" (British Aerospace Jetstream 41) and "744" (Boeing 747-400
).
letter codes are used for countries
as specified in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
. Two additional codes are used:
letters codes are used for currencies
as specified in ISO 4217
.
or a part of a country, where local time is the same. IATA timezone code is constructed of 2-4 characters (letters an digits) as follows:
Example: Time zone code AU2 is used for Australia
n states New South Wales
and Victoria
(local time is UTC + 10 hours, DST begins at end of October). Time zone code AU2A is used for Tasmania
(local time is UTC + 10 hours, DST begins at end of September). Time zone code AU2B is used for Queensland
(local time is UTC + 10 hours, no DST).
letters codes used to specify large territories, consisting of several countries.
Following codes are used:
Speaking on region codes and countries, country code RU is used to specify part of Russia
west from (and including of) Ural Mountains
and country code XU is used to specify part of Russia
east from (and not including of) Ural Mountains
. Country RU is in EUR region, country XU is in SEA region. For all other purposes only country code RU is used to specify all the territory of Russia.
Country code AQ is used to specify Antarctica. Country AQ is not in any of regions listed here.
International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...
(IATA) publishes to facilitate air travel. They are typically 1-, 2-, 3-, or 4-character combinations (referred to as unigrams, digrams
Bigram
Bigrams or digrams are groups of two written letters, two syllables, or two words, and are very commonly used as the basis for simple statistical analysis of text. They are used in one of the most successful language models for speech recognition...
, trigram
Trigram
Trigrams are a special case of the N-gram, where N is 3. They are often used in natural language processing for doing statistical analysis of texts.-Frequency:The 16 most common trigrams in English are:-Examples:...
s, or tetragram
Tetragram
The word tetragram describes any word that is exactly four letters long.Tetragram can also refer to:*the Tetragrammaton, the Hebrew name for God, sometimes written as YHWH *a Tai Xuan Jing symbol with four lines...
s, respectively) that uniquely identify locations, equipment, companies, and times to standardize international flight operations. All codes within each group follow a pattern (same number of characters, and using either all letters or letter/digit combinations) to reduce the potential for error.
Airport codes
IATA airport codeIATA airport code
An IATA airport code, also known an IATA location identifier, IATA station code or simply a location identifier, is a three-letter code designating many airports around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association...
s are trigram letter designations for airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
s, like "ORY" (Paris-Orly Airport) and "CPT" (Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International Airport is the primary airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second busiest airport in South Africa and third busiest in Africa. Located approximately from the city centre, the airport was opened in 1954 to replace Cape Town's previous airport in the suburb of...
).
Airline designators
IATA airline designators are digram letter/digit codes for airlineAirline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
companies, like "M6" (Amerijet), "NH" (All Nippon Airways
All Nippon Airways
, also known as or ANA, is one of the largest airlines in Japan. It is headquartered at the Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 35 international routes and employed over 14,000 employees as of May 2009...
), and "4A" (Air Kiribati
Air Kiribati
Air Kiribati Limited is the national airline of Kiribati operating passenger services within the Gilbert Islands of Kiribati, and to Fiji. It also operates charters, medical evacuation and search and rescue services. Its main base is Bonriki International Airport, Tarawa Atoll.Until 2008, it was...
).
Aircraft type designators
IATA aircraft type designatorIATA aircraft type designator
-List of IATA aircraft type designators:- References :* - IATA Aircraft Codes...
s are trigram letter/digit codes used for aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
models, like "J41" (British Aerospace Jetstream 41) and "744" (Boeing 747-400
Boeing 747-400
The Boeing 747-400 is a major development and the best-selling model of the Boeing 747 family of jet airliners. While retaining the four-engine wide-body layout of its predecessors, the 747-400 embodies numerous technological and structural changes to produce a more efficient airframe...
).
Country codes
DigramBigram
Bigrams or digrams are groups of two written letters, two syllables, or two words, and are very commonly used as the basis for simple statistical analysis of text. They are used in one of the most successful language models for speech recognition...
letter codes are used for countries
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
as specified in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest...
. Two additional codes are used:
- code XU is used to specify part of RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
east of (but not including) the Ural MountainsUral MountainsThe Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
. - code AQ is used for Antarctica
Currency codes
trigramTrigram
Trigrams are a special case of the N-gram, where N is 3. They are often used in natural language processing for doing statistical analysis of texts.-Frequency:The 16 most common trigrams in English are:-Examples:...
letters codes are used for currencies
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
as specified in ISO 4217
ISO 4217
ISO 4217 is a standard published by the International Standards Organization, which delineates currency designators, country codes , and references to minor units in three tables:* Table A.1 – Current currency & funds code list...
.
IATA timezone codes
IATA timezone is a countryCountry
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
or a part of a country, where local time is the same. IATA timezone code is constructed of 2-4 characters (letters an digits) as follows:
- ISO 3166-1 alpha-2ISO 3166-1 alpha-2ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest...
country code is always used as first and second characters of time zone code. - If country is not divided into separate time zones - no more characters added. Just 2 characters used.
- If country is divided into time zones - 3rd character of time zone code is a digit - number of time zone in country. Note: RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
is divided into 11 timezones, so number of time zone in country is specified by 2 digits - RU01, RU02, ... RU11. - If some territories have the same local time, but different rules on Daylight saving timeDaylight saving timeDaylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
, - a letter can be added as 4th character to make unique codes for all such territories.
Example: Time zone code AU2 is used for Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n states New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
(local time is UTC + 10 hours, DST begins at end of October). Time zone code AU2A is used for Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
(local time is UTC + 10 hours, DST begins at end of September). Time zone code AU2B is used for Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
(local time is UTC + 10 hours, no DST).
IATA region codes
IATA region codes trigramTrigram
Trigrams are a special case of the N-gram, where N is 3. They are often used in natural language processing for doing statistical analysis of texts.-Frequency:The 16 most common trigrams in English are:-Examples:...
letters codes used to specify large territories, consisting of several countries.
Following codes are used:
- SCH - Schengen agreementSchengen AgreementThe Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
countries - AFR - AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
- CAR - Caribbean seaCaribbean SeaThe Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
countries - CEM - Central AmericaCentral AmericaCentral America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
- EUR - EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
- JAK - JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... - MDE - Middle EastMiddle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
- NOA - North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
- SAS - South AsiaSouth AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
- SEA - South-Eastern Asia
- SOA - South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
- SWP - South-West of Pacific
- TC1 - IATA American Traffic Conference (includes NOA, CEM, SOA and CAR)
- TC2 - IATA European and African Traffic Conference (includes AFR, EUR, MDE)
- TC3 - IATA Asian Traffic Conference (includes JAK, SAS, SEA, SWP)
Speaking on region codes and countries, country code RU is used to specify part of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
west from (and including of) Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
and country code XU is used to specify part of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
east from (and not including of) Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
. Country RU is in EUR region, country XU is in SEA region. For all other purposes only country code RU is used to specify all the territory of Russia.
Country code AQ is used to specify Antarctica. Country AQ is not in any of regions listed here.
IATA meal codes
- HFML - High Fibre Meal
- LPML - Low Protein Meal
- ORML - Oriental Meal
- PRML - Low Purin Meal
- VJML - Vegetarian Jain Meal
- VOML - Vegetarian Oriental Meal
- AVML - Asian Vegetarian Meal
- BBML - Baby Meal
- BLML - Bland Meal
- FPML - Fruit Platter Meal
- GFML - Gluten Intolerant Meal
- LFML - Low Fat Meal
- LSML - Low Salt Meal
- NLML - Low Lactose Meal
- RVML - Vegetarian Raw Meal
- VVML - Vegetarian Vegan Meal
- VLML - Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal
- KSML - Kosher Meal
- CHML - Children Meal
- MOML - Moslem Meal
- SFML - Seafood Meal
- HNML - Hindu Meal
- PFML - Peanut Free Meal
- JNML - Jain Meal