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:''For other uses, see'' IATA (disambiguation).
An 'IATA airport code', also known an 'IATA location identifier', 'IATA station code' or simply a 'location identifier' [1], is a three-letter code designating many airports 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.

The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 767, and it is administered by IATA headquarters in Montreal. The codes are published biannually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory^[1]''. The codes are not unique: 323 of the possible 17,576 codes are used by more than one airport.
While the IATA codes are the most familiar airport codes to passengers, the 4-letter ICAO airport codes are becoming increasingly common within aviation. All international flights are flight-planned and tracked using ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) designators, and most GPS databases use ICAO codes to avoid conflicts with three-letter navigation-aid codes. Many countries, such as Canada, no longer use IATA codes in their official aeronautical publications.
IATA also provides codes for railway stations and for airport handling entities. A list of airports sorted by IATA code is available. A list of railway stations codeshared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak, SNCF French Rail, Deutsche Bahn, Thalys International, and Swiss Rail is available. There is also a separate List of Amtrak station codes, three-character codes used by Amtrak for its railway stations in the United States and Canada.

Contents

References

See also

External links

References

1. IATA Airline Coding Directory

See also

★ Airspace class

★ Airline codes

External links

★ List of all US airports by airport code

★ Airport ABCs: An Explanation of Airport Identifier Codes

★ IATA Document Distribution

★ Database with extended search functionality

★ IATA airports linked to Google Maps and Google Earth