UNIT 7 FAMILIARIZATION WITH OAG – I

Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 History of OAG
7.3 Country Codes
7.4 International Location Indication Systems in Aviation
7.5 City Codes and Airport Codes
7.6 Airlines Codes
7.7 Let Us Sum Up
7.8 Further Readings
7.9 Clues to check you progress
7.10 Activity

7.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you will be able to:

 explain what is OAG,
 explain the need of coding system in aviation,
 differentiate between the coding system of IATA and ICAO,
 explain and identify ISO country codes,
 identify city, airport and airline by their codes; and
 interpret OAG using the codes

7.1 INTRODUCTION

As one of the world’s largest industries, tourism uses multiple modes of transport. Air
Transportation is just one of many but an important one since it’s fastest and it’s popular for
international travel. Air travel came with certain problems arising from multiple flight
schedules, airports with similar sounding names, more than one airport in a city; add to it the
ever changing (increasing or decreasing) number of schedules airlines. This led to the
demand of ABC World Airways Guide during the time of manual ticketing. This guide has
now merged with OAG since 1993.

OAG, Official Airline Guide, is a guide providing information on the different aspects of
aviation industry. It is useful for both airline passenger as well as cargo services information.
OAG plays an important role in the air transportation as an Air Travel Intelligence reference.
This unit will introduce you to the OAG. You will also be introduced to the concept of
designated coding and the importance of the coding system in the aviation industry. OAG
codes for different cities, airports and airlines are also mentioned in this unit.
7.2 HISTORY OF OAG - OFFICIAL AIRLINE GUIDE

The Official Airline Guide (OAG) is an air travel intelligence reference that provides data on
airline schedules, cargo and aviation analytics. The "Official Aviation Guide of the Airways"
was first published in the United States in February 1929, and it listed 35 airlines with a total
of 300 flights. The OAG title first appeared in the September issue of the Guide after it was
taken over by a competitor publication in 1948. OAG began in Chicago, but in 1968
relocated to Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

In 1946, the "ABC World Airways Guide" was first published in the United Kingdom, with
maps and travel recommendations. Following Reed Elsevier's 1993 purchase of OAG Inc.,
which already owned ABC International, the ABC and OAG brands were combined. All
items from the combined ABC and OAG businesses were rebranded as OAG in August 1996.

Flight schedules were grouped and published by city pair in 1958, rather than under distinct
sections for each airline timetable, thanks to developments in computer technology. Initially,
this Quick Reference Edition only covered North American flights. In 1962, a separate
International Quick Reference Edition was released, which included the rest of the world.
The two Timetable Editions were published in the traditional style for several years longer;
the last Worldwide Timetable Edition was published in March 1969.

In 1962, OAG began supplying data to the first computer reservations systems and created
the first tailored airline timetable. The OAG Quick Reference Editions began incorporating
computer-generated connecting flight information and tariff data in the late 1960s and early
1970s; both of which were ordered by city-pair and combined with the flight information.

The IATA Standard Schedules Information Manual (SSIM) for the interchange of airline
schedule data was developed with OAG's help. This organisation, which was founded in
1972, is the key supplier of protocols and formats for the global aviation industry. In 1983,
the OAG Electronic Edition was introduced, which included both flight and pricing
information.

In present times, since 2009 OAG started to supply airlines schedules and Minimum
Connection Time (MCTs) to Global Distribution Systems Travelport. OAG also partners with
the largest GDS in the world Amadeus and TravelSky (You will learn about GDS in Unit 11).
In June 2010 OAG created new technology (Schedules Dynamic) to deliver the most up-to-
date airline schedule changes to airlines, OTAs, GDSs and reservation systems. OAG has a
strategic partnership with IATA and contributes to its SSIM Standards Board and working
groups.

Other than information on airlines, in collaboration with IATA, OAG’s databases also
include cargo flight information that is updated daily. Worldwide cargo schedules from
freighter aircraft to road feeder services, origin/destination information, flight details, airline
code, airport, and aircraft type are all available in the OAG. Furthermore, OAG offers a
comprehensive reference guide for cargo flights that is updated monthly to provide visibility
of all flight options available. Data can be customized to specifically contain the parameters
desired by the user.

OAG is the official airline guide with passenger airline and cargo information but to access
information from it you will need to understand the terms that are used. You will learn more
about the process of using OAG in Unit 8. In this unit we will discuss one of the most
important aspects of air transport, the coding system. You need to know about the coding
system to access information from OAG. Coding system is the building blocks on which
information is exchanged in the aviation industry

7.3 COUNTRY CODES

All countries are represented by a 2-letter and 3-letter country code based on the International
Naming Convention (ISO - International Organization for Standardization 3166). These short
codes are intuitive so they can be used as a universal and instant informative representation
for each country. These abbreviations are used in postal services, world currencies, travel and
business activities, as well as web address identification. Country codes are short alphabetic
or numeric geographical codes (geocodes) developed to represent countries and dependent
areas, for use in data processing and communications. This list of countries and abbreviations
was also published by the United Nations.

ISO country codes are internationally recognised codes that designate every country and most
dependent territories with a two-letter or three-letter combination; it is similar to an acronym
that stands for a country or state. The two-letter country code is used in top-level domains
(for countries) on the Internet such as.us (United States),.fr (France), and.de (Germany).

The three-letter code is also frequently used at events involving international participation
from several nations, such as sports meetings or song competitions, where abbreviations such
as CAN (for Canada), DNK (for Denmark), and AUS (for Australia) can be seen (for
Australia).

The two-letter codes (ISO alpha-2), and the three-letter codes (ISO alpha-3) for countries,
dependencies, and other places are listed below:

1. African Country Codes:

For African continent find the country abbreviations below -

2 ‐ Letter  3 ‐ Letter  Country Name 

DZ  DZA  Algeria 
AO  AGO  Angola 
BJ  BEN  Benin 
BW  BWA  Botswana 
BF  BFA  Burkina Faso 
BI  BDI  Burundi 
CM  CMR  Cameroon 
CV  CPV  Cape Verde 
CF  CAF  Central African Republic 
TD  TCD  Chad 
KM  COM  Comoros 
CG  COG  Congo 
CD  COD  Congo, Democratic Republic of 
CI  CIV  Côte d'Ivoire 
DJ  DJI  Djibouti 
EG  EGY  Egypt 
GQ  GNQ  Equatorial Guinea 
ER  ERI  Eritrea 
ET  ETH  Ethiopia 
GA  GAB  Gabon 
GM  GMB  Gambia 
GH  GHA  Ghana 
GN  GIN  Guinea 
GW  GNB  Guinea‐Bissau 
KE  KEN  Kenya 
LS  LSO  Lesotho 
LR  LBR  Liberia 
LY  LBY  Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 
MG  MDG  Madagascar 
MW  MWI  Malawi 
ML  MLI  Mali 
MR  MRT  Mauritania 
MU  MUS  Mauritius 
YT  MYT  Mayotte 
MA  MAR  Morocco 
MZ  MOZ  Mozambique 
NA  NAM  Namibia 
NE  NER  Niger 
NG  NGA  Nigeria 
RE  REU  Reunion 
RW  RWA  Rwanda 
SH  SHN  Saint Helena 
ST  STP  Sao Tome and Principe 
SN  SEN  Senegal 
SC  SYC  Seychelles 
SL  SLE  Sierra Leone 
SO  SOM  Somalia 
ZA  ZAF  South Africa 
 SS  SSD  South Sudan 
SD  SDN  Sudan 
Eswatini, formerly known as 
SZ  SWZ 
Swaziland 
TZ  TZA  Tanzania 
TG  TGO  Togo 
TN  TUN  Tunisia 
UG  UGA  Uganda 
EH  ESH  Western Sahara 
ZM  ZMB  Zambia 
ZW  ZWE  Zimbabwe 

2. Antarctica Country Codes

Famous as the coldest planet and the land of the penguins the two letter codes of the
Antarctic countries are:

2 ‐ Letter  3 ‐ Letter  Country Name 

AQ  ATA  Antarctica 
BV  BVT  Bouvet Island 
TF  ATF  French Southern Territories 
HM  HMD  Heard Island and McDonald Islands 
GS  SGS  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 

3. Australia & Oceania Country Codes

Australia is a country and a continent too. It also has a lot of islands that surround it in an
area in a common term known as Oceania. The country codes for Australia and Oceania
abbreviations are:

2 ‐ Letter  3 ‐ Letter  Country Name 

AS  ASM  American Samoa 
AU  AUS  Australia 
CK  COK  Cook Islands 
FJ  FJI  Fiji 
PF  PYF  French Polynesia 
GU  GUM  Guam 
KI  KIR  Kiribati 
MH  MHL  Marshall Islands 
FM  FSM  Micronesia 
NR  NRU  Nauru 
NC  NCL  New Caledonia 
NZ  NZL  New Zealand 
NU  NIU  Niue 
NF  NFK  Norfolk Island 
MP  MNP  Northern Mariana Islands 
 PW  PLW  Palau 
PG  PNG  Papua New Guinea 
PN  PCN  Pitcairn Islands 
WS  WSM  Samoa 
SB  SLB  Solomon Islands 
TK  TKL  Tokelau 
TO  TON  Tonga, Kingdom of 
TV  TUV  Tuvalu 
UM  UMI  United States Minor Outlying Islands 
VU  VUT  Vanuatu 
WF  WLF  Wallis and Futuna 

4. Asia Country Codes

Asia a land of most populated countries of the world and has their own country codes.

2 ‐ Letter  3 ‐ Letter  Country Name 

AF  AFG  Afghanistan 
AZ  AZE  Azerbaijan 
BH  BHR  Bahrain 
BD  BGD  Bangladesh 
BT  BTN  Bhutan 
IO  IOT  British Indian Ocean Territory 
BN  BRN  Brunei Darussalam 
KH  KHM  Cambodia 
CN  CHN  China, People's Republic of 
CX  CXR  Christmas Island 
CC  CCK  Cocos (Keeling) Islands 
CY  CYP  Cyprus 
GE  GEO  Georgia 
HK  HKG  Hong Kong 
IN  IND  India 
ID  IDN  Indonesia 
IR  IRN  Iran, Islamic Republic of 
IQ  IRQ  Iraq 
IL  ISR  Israel 
JP  JPN  Japan 
JO  JOR  Jordan 
KZ  KAZ  Kazakhstan 
KP  PRK  Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 
KR  KOR  Korea, Republic of 
KW  KWT  Kuwait 
KG  KGZ  Kyrgyzstan 
LA  LAO  Lao People's Democratic Republic 
LB  LBN  Lebanon 
MO  MAC  Macao 
 MY  MYS  Malaysia 
MV  MDV  Maldives 
MN  MNG  Mongolia 
MM  MMR  Myanmar 
NP  NPL  Nepal 
OM  OMN  Oman 
PK  PAK  Pakistan 
PS  PSE  Palestinian Territory 
PH  PHL  Philippines 
QA  QAT  Qatar 
SA  SAU  Saudi Arabia 
SG  SGP  Singapore 
LK  LKA  Sri Lanka 
SY  SYR  Syrian Arab Republic 
TW  TWN  Taiwan 
TJ  TJK  Tajikistan 
TH  THA  Thailand 
TL  TLS  Timor‐Leste 
TR  TUR  Turkey 
TM  TKM  Turkmenistan 
AE  ARE  United Arab Emirates 
UZ  UZB  Uzbekistan 
VN  VNM  Vietnam 
YE  YEM  Yemen 

5. Europe Country Codes

The European countries have their own country codes. They are:

2 ‐ Letter  3 ‐ Letter  Country Name 

AX  ALA  Aland Islands 
AL  ALB  Albania 
AD  AND  Andorra 
AM  ARM  Armenia 
AT  AUT  Austria 
BY  BLR  Belarus 
BE  BEL  Belgium 
BA  BIH  Bosnia and Herzegovina 
BG  BGR  Bulgaria, Republic of 
HR  HRV  Croatia 
CZ  CZE  Czech Republic (Czechia) 
DK  DNK  Denmark 
EE  EST  Estonia 
FO  FRO  Faroe Islands 
FI  FIN  Finland 
FR  FRA  France 
 DE  DEU  Germany 
GI  GIB  Gibraltar 
GR  GRC  Greece 
GG  GGY  Guernsey 
VA  VAT  Holy See (Vatican City State) 
HU  HUN  Hungary 
IS  ISL  Iceland 
IE  IRL  Ireland 
IM  IMN  Isle of Man 
IT  ITA  Italy 
JE  JEY  Jersey 
LV  LVA  Latvia 
LI  LIE  Liechtenstein 
LT  LTU  Lithuania 
LU  LUX  Luxembourg 
MK  MKD  Republic of North Macedonia 
MT  MLT  Malta 
MD  MDA  Moldova 
MC  MCO  Monaco 
ME  MNE  Montenegro 
NL  NLD  Netherlands 
NO  NOR  Norway 
PL  POL  Poland 
PT  PRT  Portugal 
RO  ROU  Romania 
RU  RUS  Russian Federation 
SM  SMR  San Marino 
RS  SRB  Serbia 
SK  SVK  Slovakia (Slovak Republic) 
SI  SVN  Slovenia 
ES  ESP  Spain 
SJ  SJM  Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands 
SE  SWE  Sweden 
CH  CHE  Switzerland 
UA  UKR  Ukraine 
GB  GBR  United Kingdom 

6. North American Country Codes

The codes of different North American countries and territories are:

2 ‐ Letter  3 ‐ Letter  Country Name 

AI  AIA  Anguilla 
AW  ABW  Aruba 
BQ  BES  Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba 
 CA  CAN  Canada 
CU  CUB  Cuba 
CW  CUW  Curaçao 
DM  DMA  Dominica 
DO  DOM  Dominican Republic 
SV  SLV  El Salvador 
GL  GRL  Greenland 
GD  GRD  Grenada 
GP  GLP  Guadeloupe 
GT  GTM  Guatemala 
HT  HTI  Haiti 
HN  HND  Honduras 
JM  JAM  Jamaica 
MQ  MTQ  Martinique 
MX  MEX  Mexico 
MS  MSR  Montserrat 
AN  ANT  Netherlands Antilles 
NI  NIC  Nicaragua 
PA  PAN  Panama 
PR  PRI  Puerto Rico 
BL  BLM  Saint Barthelemy 
KN  KNA  Saint Kitts and Nevis 
LC  LCA  Saint Lucia 
MF  MAF  Saint Martin 
PM  SPM  Saint Pierre and Miquelon 
VC  VCT  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 
SX  SXM  Sint Maarten (Netherlands) 
TT  TTO  Trinidad and Tobago 
TC  TCA  Turks and Caicos Islands 
UM  UMI  United States Minor Outlying Islands 
US  USA  United States of America 
VI  VIR  United States Virgin Islands 

7. South America Country Codes

South American continent includes both Brazil and Colombia. The country code for the
continent of South America is:

2 ‐ Letter  3 ‐ Letter  Country Name 

AR  ARG  Argentina 
BO  BOL  Bolivia 
 BR  BRA  Brazil 
CL  CHL  Chile 
CO  COL  Colombia 
EC  ECU  Ecuador 
FK  FLK  Falkland Islands (Malvinas) 
GF  GUF  French Guiana 
GY  GUY  Guyana 
PY  PRY  Paraguay 
PE  PER  Peru 
SR  SUR  Suriname 
UY  URY  Uruguay 
VE  VEN  Venezuela 

7.4 INTERNATIONAL LOCATION INDICATION SYSTEMS IN AVIATION

Travel by air has an international and beyond-border character and it requires standard
regulations and operational procedures between countries. Standard airport codes are required
for the right and accurate communication needed for the safe operation of aircraft and air
navigation services. There has been issue of lingual diversity and different pronunciation of
the same destination. At the same time we may have more than one destination with the same
name or more than one airport in the same destination. Uniformity in among the various
countries and destination across the world was needed; and to provide the same the code
system was invented.

Codes ensure that one reaches the desired destination city and airport, irrespective of the
place of origin as each airport, city, country and airline has a unique identity using the
alphabetic/alphanumeric code or numeric code. It goes without saying that codes are
indispensable in the travel business. The codes are multiple and are used for ticket booking,
itinerary making and even in CRS/GDS.

Airport codes are also known as airport location indicators or airport location identifiers. In
aviation, location indicators symbolise the name and the geographical location of an airport, a
navigational aid or a weather station. There are two international location indication systems
in aviation, one provided by IATA and another by ICAO. The difference between the coding
systems of both is mentioned below:

The International Civil Aviation Organization  International Air Transport Association (IATA) 
(ICAO) Airport Codes  Airport Codes and IATA location identifiers 
 
ICAO assigns a four‐digit indicator to all airports  There  are  many  types  of  airports  (such  as 
(aerodromes)  and  other  geographical  fixed  aerodromes,  military  airports,  air  stripes  etc.), 
locations.  only  airports  open  to  commercial  air  transport 
  have an assigned 3 letter IATA code.  
Small  airports  that  do  not  have  an  airport  code   
(generally  those  without  scheduled  commercial   
flight)  may  have  an  ICAO  code.  The  coverage  of   
ICAO  airport  codes  is  broader  than  the  IATA 
airport codes 
The  geographic  location  determines  the  specific  An  airport  must  have  an  IATA  location  code  to 
code  in  the  ICAO  airport  coding  system.  Certain  commence  any  commercial  activity.  However, 
classifications  among  continents,  regions,  IATA codes are not designated only for airports.  
countries  and  sub‐regions  in  the  countries  are   
used.    
   
ICAO  member  states  use  ICAO  codes  in  their  Also,  IATA  codes  are  used  wherever 
official  aeronautical  publications  for  operational  communication  with  the  public  is  involved.  A 
planning and communication.   traveller  sees  the  IATA  codes  displayed  on  the 
  travel documents publicly available such as flight 
Personnel,  including  flight  crew  members,  schedules, reservations, air tickets, baggage tags, 
dispatchers, and air traffic controllers, uses ICAO  and boarding passes. 
codes  for  flight  planning,  flight  information   
services,  and  documents  with  aeronautical   
information such as NOTAMs (Notice to AirMan),   
and meteorological reports.   
 
 
The first letter of the airport identifier is assigned  Unlike  the  ICAO  coding  system,  IATA  location 
a continent, representing a country or a group of  indicators  generally  are  not  assigned  according 
countries. While the second letter represents the  to  any  particular  rule.    The  basic  rules  for  the 
country,  the  third  letter  represents  the  FIR  IATA codes are: 
(Flight  Information  Region)  in  the  country.  The  i. The  first  three  letter  of  the  current/past 
last  character  represents  the  specific  letter  of  name  of  the  city:  Singapore  SIN,  Mumbai 
that particular airport.  (Bombay) BOM, Beijing (Peking) PEK  
  ii. A  three‐letter  combination  from  the  city 
  name: Munich MUC  
For example, E is used for Northern Europe and L  iii. A  three‐letter  combination  from  the  name 
for  Southern  Europe.  While  LEBL  identifies  of  the  airport:  London  Heathrow  LHR, 
Barcelona–El  Prat  Airport,  LEBB  ICAO  code  Omega Airport, Namibia OMG;  
identifies Bilbao Airport in Spain. LEBL, the ICAO  iv. Former  airport  code/name  of  the  district: 
code of Barcelona–El Prat Airport, consists of the  Orlando  Airport  (former  McCoy  Air  Force 
below  components:  L:  Continent  and  region  Base)  MCO,  Chicago  O’Hare  Airport 
(Example:  Southern  Europe  ‐  L)  E:  Represents  a  (Orchard  Field  Airport)  ORD,  Jakarta 
country  or  a  group  of  countries  within  that  Soekarno‐Hatta  International  Airport 
region  (Example:  Spain  ‐  E)  B:  Identify  an  FIR  in  (Jakarta Cengkareng Airport) CGK 
the  country  (Example:  Barcelona  FIR  ‐  B)  L:  v. A city served by more than one airport will 
Identify  an  aerodrome  or  another  geographic  be assigned a Metropolitan Area Code. For 
location (Example: Barcelona–El Prat Airport ‐ L)    example,  LON  for  London  City 
  (Metropolitan  Area)  and  LCY  for  London 
City  Airport  and  LHR  for  London  Heathrow 
Airport 

However, there is not a strict rule or pattern that is followed for some of the locators. For
example, since the airport code DUB was already assigned for Dublin when Dubai
International opened, the airport code of DXB was selected. For most airports in the USA and
Canada, ICAO codes are prefixed one-letter IATA codes. For example, IATA (LAX) and
ICAO (KLAX). ICAO and IATA codes are unique codes, and most major airports have both
ICAO and IATA codes.

Check Your Progress ‐ 1 

1. Pick up the countries which are neighbours of your own country and write down the two
letter codes for the same?
.................................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
2. Randomly pick up five countries from each continent and write the two letter country
codes of these countries?
.................................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
3. Write down the two letter codes of the following countries:
Switzerland Sweden
Canada United Kingdom
Japan Australia
Germany United States

7.5 CITY CODES AND AIRPORT CODES

IATA assigns different codes for cities and airport codes and city codes since one single city
may have more than one commercial airports. In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are
often named after the airport itself instead of the city it serves; while another code is used to
refer to the city itself.

Every official airport in the world—from the largest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International
Airport (ATL), to the smallest, Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on the Caribbean island of Saba
(SAB)—is assigned a three-letter code.

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, as 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 one of ways these codes are used.

The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered
by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA
Airline Coding Directory.
 As mentioned earlier IATA and ICAO both have their codes but they do differ. ICAO
codes are four-letter codes used by a appendant body of the United Nations to designate
international flights and govern the standards of air travel. IATA codes are three-
letter codes used by a non-governmental trade organization to efficiently identify airports,
airlines, and flight paths for consumers. Few important and commonly used airport/city codes
of the world are:

Airport Code  Airport  Country  City  City Code 

【A】 
ADL  ADELAIDE INT’L  AUSTRALIA  ADELAIDE  ADL 
AEP  AEROPARQUE JORGE NEWBERY  ARGENTINA  BUENOS AIRES  BUE 
AKL  AUCKLAND INT’L  NEW ZEALAND  AUCKLAND  AKL 
AMS  AMSTERDAM‐SCHIPHOL  NETHERLANDS  AMSTERDAM  AMS 
ARN  ARLANDA  SWEDEN  STOCKHOLM  STO 
ATH  ATHINAI  GREECE  ATHENS  ATH 
ATL  HARTSFIELD ATLANTA INT’L  U.S.A.  ATLANTA  ATL 

AUH  ABU DHABI INT’L  U.A.E.  ABU DHABI  AUH 

【B】 
BAH  BAHRAIN INT’L  BAHRAIN  BAHRAIN  BAH 
BCN  BARCELONA EL PRAT  SPAIN  BARCELONA  BCN 
BEY  BEIRUT INT’L  LEBANON  BEIRUT  BEY 
BHX  BIRMINGHAM INT’L  U.K.  BIRMINGHAM  BHX 
BKK  SUVANARBHUMI INT’L  THAILAND  BANGKOK  BKK 
BMA  BROMMA  SWEDEN  STOCKHOLM  STO 
BNE  BRISBANE INT’L  AUSTRALIA  BRISBANE  BNE 
BOS  LOGAN INT’L  U.S.A.  BOSTON  BOS 
BRE  BREMEN  GERMANY  BREMEN  BRE 
BRU  BRUSSELS NATIONAL  BELGIUM  BRUSSELS  BRU 
BSL  BASEL  SWITZERLAND  BASEL  BSL 

【C】 
CAI  CAIRO INT’L  EGYPT  CAIRO  CAI 
CAN  BAIYUN INT’L  CHINA  GUANGZHOU  CAN 
CCS  SIMON BOLIVAR  VENEZUELA  CARACAS  CCS 
 NETAJI  SUBHAS  CHANDRA  BOSE 
CCU  INDIA  CALCUTTA  CCU 
INT’L 
CDG  CHARLES DE GAULLE  FRANCE  PARIS  PAR 
CGH  CONGONHAS  BRAZIL  SAO PAULO  SAO 
CGK  SOEKARNO‐HATTA  INDONESIA  JAKARTA  JKT 
CGN  COLOGNE/BONN  GERMANY  COLOGNE  CGN 
CGX  MEIGS FIELD  U.S.A.  CHICAGO  CHI 
CHC  CHRISTCHURCH INT’L  NEW ZEALAND  CHRISTCHURCH  CHC 
CLE  CLEVELAND HOPKINS INT’L  U.S.A.  CLEVELAND  CLE 
CMB  BANDAANAYAKE INT’L  SRI LANKA  COLOMBO  CMB 
CPH  COPENHAGEN  DENMARK  COPENHAGEN  CPH 
CPT  CAPE TOWN INT’L  S. AFRICA  CAPE TOWN  CPT 

【D】 
DAL  LOVE FIELD  U.S.A.  DALLAS  DAL 
DCA  NATIONAL  U.S.A.  WASHINGTON DC  WAS 
DEL  INDIRA GANDHI INT’L  INDIA  DELHI  DEL 
DEN  DENVER INT’L  U.S.A.  DENVER  DEN 
DET  CITY AIRPORT  U.S.A.  DETROIT  DTT 
DFW  DALLAS/FORTWORTH INT’L  U.S.A.  DALLAS  DAL 
DLC  DALIAN ZHOUSHUIZI INT’L  CHINA  DALIAN  DLC 
DPS  NGURAH RAI  INDONESIA  DENPASAR  DPS 
DTW  WAYNE COUNTY  U.S.A.  DETROIT  DTT 
DUB  DUBLIN  IRELAND  DUBLIN  DUB 
DUS  RHEINE‐RUHR  GERMANY  DUSSELDORF  DUS 
DXB  DUBAI INT’l  U.A.E.  DUBAI  DXB 

【E】 
EWR  NEWARK  U.S.A.  NEW YORK CITY  NYC 
EZE  MINISTRO PISTARINI  ARGENTINA  BUENOS AIRES  BUE 

【F】 
FBU  GARDENMOEN  NORWAY  OSLO  OSL 
FCO  LEONARDO DA VINCI(FIUMICINO)  ITALY  ROME  ROM 
FRA  FRANKFURT INT’L  GERMANY  FANKFURT  FRA 
 【G】 
GIG  RIO DE JANEIRO INT’L  BRAZIL  RIO DE JANEIRO  RIO 
GLA  GLASGOW INT’L  U.K.  GALSGOW  GLA 
GOT  LANDVETTER  SWEDEN  GOTHENBURG  GOT 
GRU  GUARULHOS INT’L  BRAZIL  SAO PAULO  SAO 
GVA  GENEVA COINTRIN  SWITZERLAND  GENEVA  GVA 

【H】 
HAJ  HANOVER  GERMANY  HANOVER  HAJ 
HAM  HAMBURG  GERMANY  HAMBURG  HAM 
HAN  NOI BAI  VIETNAM  HANOI  HAN 
HEL  HELSINKI‐VANTAAN  FINLAND  HELSINKI  HEL 
HKG  HONG KONG INT’L  CHINA  HONG KONG  HKG 
HLP  HALIM PERDANA KUSUMA  INDONESIA  JAKARTA  JKT 
HNL  HONOLULU INT’L  U.S.A.  HONOLULU  HNL 
HOU  HOBBY  U.S.A.  HOUSTON  HOU 

【I】 

IAD  WASHINGTON DULLES INT’L  U.S.A.  WASHINGTON DC  WAS 

IAH  INTERCONTINENTAL  U.S.A.  HOUSTON  HOU 
IND  INDIANAPOLIS INT’L  U.S.A.  INDIANAPOLIS  IND 

【J】 
JED  KING ABDULAZIZ INT’L  SAUDI ARABIA  JEDDAH  JED 
JFK  J.F. KENNEDY INT’L  U.S.A.  NEW YORK CITY  NYC 
JNB  TAMBO INT’L  S. AFRICA  JOHANNESBURG  JNB 

【K】 
KHH  KAOHSIUNG INT’L  TAIWAN  KAOHSIUNG  KHH 
KHI  JINNAH INT’L  PAKISTAN  KARACHI  KHI 
KUL  KUALA LUMPUR INT’L  MALAYSIA  KUALA LUMPUR  KUL 
KWI  KUWAIT INT’L  KUWAIT  KUWAIT  KWI 

【L】 
LAX  LOS ANGELES INT’L  U.S.A.  LOS ANGELES  LAX 
LGA  LA GUARDIA  U.S.A.  NEW YORK CITY  NYC 
LGW  GATWICK  U.K.  LONDON  LON 
LHR  HEATHROW  U.K.  LONDON  LON 
LIM  JORGE CHAVEZ INT’L  PERU  LIMA  LIM 
LIN  LINATE  ITALY  MILAN  MIL 
LIS  LISBON  PORTUGAL  LISBON  LIS 
LOS  MURTALA MUHAMMED  NIGERIA  LAGOS  LOS 
LUX  FINDEL  LUXEMBURG  LUXEMBURG  LUX 
LYS  SAINT EXUPERY INT’L  FRANCE  LYON  LYS 

【M】 
MAD  BARAJAS  SPAIN  MADRID  MAD 
MAN  MANCHESTER  U.K.  MANCHESTER  MAN 
MAO  EDUARDO GOMES INT’L  BRAZIL  MANAUS  MAO 
MDW  MIDWAY  U.S.A.  CHICAGO  CHI 
MEB  ESSENDON  AUSTRALIA  MELBOURNE  MEL 
MEL  MELBOURNE INT’L  AUSTRALIA  MELBOURNE  MEL 
MEX  MAXICO CITY INT’L  MEXICO  MEXICO CITY  MEX 
MIA  MIAMI INT’L  U.S.A.  MIAMI  MIA 
MLH  MULHOUSE  FRANCE  MLHOUSE  MLH 
MMA  STURUP  SWEDEN  MALMO  MMA 
MNL  NINOY AQUINO INT’L  PHILIPPINES  MANILA  MNL 
MSP  NONNEAPOLIS ST. PAUL INT’L  U.S.A.  MINNEAPOLIS  MSP 
MUC  FRANZ JOSEF STRAUSS  GERMANY  MUNICH  MUC 
MXP  MALPENSA  ITALY  MILAN  MIL 

【N】 
NUE  NUERMBERG  GERMANY  NUREMBERG  NUE 

【O】 
OPO  PORTO  PORTUGAL  PORTO  OPO 
ORD  O’HARE INT’L  U.S.A.  CHICAGO  CHI 
ORY  ORLY  FRANCE  PARIS  PAR 

【P】 

PDX  PORTLAND INT’L  U.S.A.  PORTLAND  PDX 

PEK  CAPITAL  CHINA  BEIJING  PEK 
 PER  PERTH  AUSTRALI  PERTH  PER 
PHL  PHILADELPHIA INT’L  U.S.A.  PHILADELPHIA  PHL 
PHX  SKY HARBOR INT’L  U.S.A.  PHOENIX  PHX 
PIT  PITTSBURGH INT’L  U.S.A.  PITTSBURGH  PIT 
PNH  PHNOM PENH INT’L  CAMBODIA  PHNOM PENH  PNH 
PUS  KIMHAE  KOREA  PUSAN  PUS 
PVG  PUDONG INT’L  CHINA  SHANGHAI  PVG 

【S】 
SAN  SAN DIEGO INT’L  U.S.A.  SAN DIEGO  SAN 
SEA  SEATTLE‐TACOMA INT’L  U.S.A.  SEATTLE  SEA 
SEL  KIMPO INT’L  KOREA  SEOUL  SEL 
SFO  SAN FRANCISCO INT’L  U.S.A.  SAN FRANCISCO  SFO 
SFS  SUBIC BAY  PHILIPPINES  SUBIC BAY  SFS 
SGN  TANSONNHAT INT’L  VIETNUM  HO CHI MINH CITY  SGN 
SHA  PUDONG  CHINA  SHANGHAI  SHA 
SIN  CHANGI  SINGAPORE  SINGAPORE  SIN 
SJU  LUIS MUNOZ MARIN INT’L  PUERTO RICO  SAN JUAN  SJU 
STR  STUTTGART  GERMANY  STUTTGART  STR 
SVO  SHEREMETYEVO  RUSSIA  MOSCOW  MOW 
SXF  SCHONEFELD  GERMANY  BERLIN  BER 
SYD  KINGSFORD SMITH(MASCOT)  AUSTRALIA  SYDNEY  SYD 
SYR  HANCOCK INT’L  U.S.A.  SYRACUSE  SYR 

【T】 
THF  TEMPELHOF  GERMANY  BERLIN  BER 
THR  MEHRABAD  IRAN  TEHRAN  THR 
TLV  BEN GURION INT’L  ISRAEL  TEL AVIV  TLV 
TPE  TAOYUAN INT’L  TAIWAN  TAIPEI  TPE 
TSA  SUNG SHAN  TAIWAN  TAIPEI  TPE 
TXL  TEGEL  GERMANY  BERLIN  BER 

【V】 
VCE  MARCO POLO  ITALY  VENICE  VCE 
VCP  VIRACOPOS  BRAZIL  SAO PAULO  SAO 
VIE  VIENNA INT’L  AUSTRIA  VIENNA  VIE 

【W】 

WAW  FREDERIC CHOPIN  POLAND  WARSAW  WAW 

WLG  WELLINGTON INT’L  NEW ZEALAND  WELLINGTON  WLG 

【Y】 
YMX  MIRABEL  CANADA  MONTREAL  YMQ 
YOW  MCDONALD CARTIER INT’L  CANADA  OTTAWA  YOW 
YUL  PIERRE ELLIOTT TRUDEAU  CANADA  MONTREAL  YMQ 
YVR  VANCOUVER INT’L  CANADA  VANCOUVER  YVR 
YYZ  LESTER B. PEARSON INT’L  CANADA  TORONTO  YTO 

【Z】 

ZRH  ZURICH  SWITZERLAND  ZURICH  ZRH 

These city and airport codes are important for anyone wishing to book a ticket on any flight.
Remembering them will make the process of ticketing swifter.

Check Your Progress ‐ 2 

1) Divide the world into country wise and try writing three letter codes of the
airports/cities of the country?
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................................

2) Make a list of fifty such countries where the airport codes are different from the city
codes?
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................

3) Provide the three letter airport codes of the following airports?

 London City Airport
 Gatwick Airport London
 Heathrow Airport London
  Luton Airport
 Stansted Airport
 London Southend Airport

4) Which Indian Airports are represented by the following codes?

 RJA AMD
 TIR BHU
 VGA BHJ
 BHO VTZ

7.6 AIRLINES CODES

IATA Airline Designator Code are to use such designators for reservations, schedules,
timetables, telecommunications, ticketing, cargo documentation, legal, tariffs and/or other
commercial/traffic purposes. IATA Codes are an integral part of the travel industry and
essential for the identification of an airline, its destinations and its traffic documents. They
are also fundamental to the smooth running of hundreds of electronic applications which have
been built around these coding systems for passenger and cargo traffic purposes.

Airline Accounting Codes and Airline Prefixes are essential for the identification of passenger
and cargo traffic documents, processing of passenger accounting transactions, cargo
transactions and other commercial/traffic purposes.

Baggage Tag Issuer Code (BTIC), combined with the tag serial number, are used to identify
each piece of checked luggage through all baggage handling processes. They help provide a
unique identifier during the complete journey. This unique identifier forms the basis of what
is known as the “License Plate”.
IATA Airline Designators, sometimes called IATA reservation codes, are two-
character codes assigned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to the
world's airlines. Airline designator codes follow the format xx(a), i.e., two alphanumeric
characters (letters or digits) followed by an optional letter.

These codes are helpful as it helps in identifying the airline a passenger is boarding is the
correct one. The baggage can also be traced based on codes on the baggage tags. It is also
much easier to book a ticket using the codes, both in saving time as well as in avoiding
confusion about the destination or airline. When we consider the huge volume of humanity
crossing across the globe every day using the airlines, the purpose of these codes become
relevant.

Continuation to this IATA also assigns a numeric code of three letters which are used for its
all-accounting document as a starting three numbers i.e, tickets, airway bills, etc. Some
examples are AI (Air India), 6E (Indigo), UK (Vistara), AA (American Airlines) etc. The list
of important airlines codes, both two letter alphanumeric codes and three letter numeric codes
are mentioned below:

Airline  Carrier Code 
Airline  Country  IATA (*) 
Code   

【A】 
001  AMERICAN AIRLINES INC.  U.S.A.  AA  AAL  * 
014  AIR CANADA  CANADA  AC  ACA  * 
055  ALITALIA ‐ COMPAGNIA AEREA ITALIANA S.P.  ITALY  AZ  AZA  * 
057  AIR FRANCE  FRANCE  AF  AFR  * 
063  AIR CALEDONIE INTERNATIONAL  CALEDONIA  SB  ACI  * 
086  AIR NEW ZEALAND LTD.  NEW ZEALAND  NZ  ANZ  * 
098  AIR INDIA LTD.  INDIA  AI  AIC  * 
139  AEROMEXICO  MEXICO  AM  AMX  * 
205  ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO., LTD.  JAPAN  NH  ANA  * 
244  AIR TAHITI NUI  TAHITI  TN  THT  * 
257  AUSTRIAN AIRLINES AG  AUSTRIA  OS  AUA  * 
260  AIR PACIFIC  FIJI  FJ  FJI  * 
288  AHK AIR HONG KONG LTD.  HONG KONG  LD  AHK 
555  AEROFLOT RUSSIAN AIRLINES  RUSSIA  SU  AFL  * 
656  AIR NIUGINI PTY LTD.  NIUGINI  PX  ANG  * 
768  AIR NIPPON CO., LTD.  JAPAN  EL  ANK 
988  ASIANA AIRLINES INC.  KOREA  OZ  AAR  * 
999  AIR CHINA LTD.  CHINA  CA  CCA  * 

【B】 
125  BRITISH AIRWAYS P.L.C.  U.K.  BA  BAW  * 

【C】 
005  CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC.  U.S.A.  CO  COA  * 
160  CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS LTD.  CHINA  CX  CPA  * 
172  CARGOLUX AIRLINES INT’L S.A.  LUXEMBURG  CV  CLX  * 
297  CHINA AIRLINES LTD  TAIWAN  CI  CAL  * 
781  CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES  CHINA  MU  CES  * 
784  CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES  CHINA  CZ  CSN  * 

【D】 
006  DELTA AIR LINES, INC.  U.S.A.  DL  DAL  * 
560  DALAVIA FAR EAST AIRWAYS  RUSSIA  H8  KHB 

【E】 
077  EGYPTAIR  EGYPT  MS  MSR  * 
176  EMIRATES SKY CARGO  U.A.E.  EK  UAE  * 
695  EVA AIRWAYS CORP.  TAIWAN  BR  EVA  * 

【F】 
023  FEDEX  U.S.A.  FX  FDX  * 
105  FINNAIR O/Y  FINLAND  AY  FIN  * 

【G】 
126  GARUDA INDONESIA  INDONESIA  GA  GIA  * 

【H】 
043  HONG KONG DRAGON AIRLINES LIMITED  HONG KONG  KA  HAD  * 

【I】 
096  IRAN‐AIR  IRAN  IR  IRA  * 

【J】 
131  JAPAN AIRLINES CO. LTD  JAPAN  JL  JAL  * 
688  JAPAN ASIA AIRWAYS CO., LTD.  JAPAN  EG  JAA 

【K】 
NETHERLAN
074  KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES  KL  KLM  * 
DS 
180  KOREAN AIR LINES CO.,LTD.  KOREA  KE  KAL  * 

【L】 
020  LUFTHANSA CARGO AG.  GERMANY  LH  DLH  * 

【M】 
232  MALAYSIA AIRLINES SYSTEM BERHAD  MALAYSIA  MH  MAS  * 
289  MIAT‐MONGOLIAN AIRLINES  MONGOLIA  OM  MGL  * 

【N】 
012  NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC.  U.S.A.  NW  NWA  * 
933  NIPPON CARGO AIRLINES  JAPAN  KZ  NCA  * 

【P】 

079  PHILIPPINE AIRLINES, INC.  PHILIPPINES  PR  PAL  * 

214  PAKISTAN INT’L AIRLINES  PAKISTAN  PK  PIA  * 
403  POLAR AIR CARGO INC.  U.S.A.  PO  PAC 

【Q】 
081  QANTAS AIRWAYS LTD.  AUSTRALIA  QF  QFA  * 

【R】 
285  ROYAL NEPAL AIRLINES CORP.  NEPAL  RA  RNA  * 

【S】 
117  SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES SYSTEM(SAS)  SWEDEN  SK  SAS  * 
603  SRILANKAN AIRLINES LTD.  SRI LANKA  UL  ALK  * 
618  SINGAPORE AIRLINES LTD.  SINGAPORE  SQ  SQC  * 
SWITZERLAN
724  SWISS INT’L AIR LINES LTD.  LX  SWR  * 
D 
774  SHANGHAI AIRLINES CO., LTD.  CHINA  FM  * 

【T】 
217  THAI AIRWAYS INT’L PUBLIC CO., LTD.  THAILAND  TG  THA  * 
235  TURKISH AIRLINES INC.  TURKEY  TK  THY  * 

【U】 
016  UNITED AIRLINES, INC.  U.S.A.  UA  UAL  * 
250  UZBEKISTAN AIRWAYS  UZBEKISTAN  HY  UZB 
406  UNITED PARCEL  U.S.A.  5X  UPS  * 

【V】 
738  VIETNAM AIRLINES  VIETNAM  VN  HVN  * 
932  VIRGIN ATLANTIC  U.K.  VS  VIR  * 

Check Your Progress 3 

1. Please mention the two letter and three letter codes of the following airlines:
i. IndiGo v. AirAsia India
ii. Air India vi. Vistara
iii. SpiceJet vii. Alliance Air
iv. GoAir viii. TruJet
2. Select 30 random countries of the world and pick up the national carrier or the flag carrier
of the particular country and write their two letter and three letter codes.
......................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................................................

7.7 LET US SUM UP

OAG or official airline guide is introduced to the learners in this unit. At the same time the
use and relevance of codes by IATA and ICAO is also being discussed. Country codes are
short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes (geocodes) developed to
represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications.
Several different systems have been developed to do this. A student of travel you need not
know the system but the two letter codes of the major countries.

An airport code is a three- or four-letter code used to identify a particular airport in

documents relating to passenger reservations and ticketing as well as flight timetables,
luggage tags, air traffic control, and other standard industry procedures.

IATA numbers are used as the travel agent identifier in reservations to allow suppliers,
including hotels, to pay commissions. The International Air Transport Association's (IATA)
Location Identifier is a unique 3-letter code (also commonly known as IATA code) used in
aviation and also in logistics to identify an airport.

The International Air Transport Association has assigned each airline a 2-letter code and each
airport a 3-letter code. The reason why these codes are assigned is so that these codes can
be used for identification in documents and communication systems.

7.8 FURTHER READINGS

 
 https://abbreviations.yourdictionary.com/articles/country‐abbreviations.html  
 
 https://www.kwe.co.jp/en/useful‐contents/code1 
 
 https://www.kwe.co.jp/en/useful‐contents/code2#code2‐A‐world 
 
 https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/country_code_list.htm

7.9 CLUES TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

7.10 ACTIVITY

1. Collect all the members of the class. Divide yourself in teams and ask each team
members to prepare flash card; where the name written on a separate card be it
currency, country, airlines, city etc., and the code written separately on another card.

2. Now shuffle the cards and distribute randomly the cards to each individual. The
students have to find the right pair of his/her card. The person who finishes with the
pairing of the right cards is declared the winner of the game.