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.
32-685: MoD Boscombe Down ( ICAO : EGDM ) is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the south-eastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury , Wiltshire , England. The site is managed by QinetiQ , the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in 2001 by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). The base was originally conceived, constructed, and operated as Royal Air Force Boscombe Down , more commonly known as RAF Boscombe Down , and since 1939, has evaluated aircraft for use by
64-798: A bomber station in the Air Defence of Great Britain command, the fore-runner of RAF Fighter Command . The first unit to operate from the new airfield was No. 9 Squadron which started operating the Vickers Virginia heavy bomber on 26 February 1930. A second Virginia unit, No. 10 Squadron , arrived on 1 April 1931 and also operated the Handley Page Heyford . The following RAF squadrons were based at Boscombe Down between 1930 and 1939: The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) arrived from RAF Martlesham Heath , Suffolk , on 9 September 1939, shortly after
96-480: 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
128-583: Is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire , England. The village is about 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Amesbury and 6 miles (10 km) northeast of Salisbury . The parish includes the villages of Porton and Gomeldon ; all three villages are on the River Bourne and are linked by the A338 road . Porton Down military science park is in the parish, separated from Idmiston by a railway line. It
160-550: Is home to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and related businesses. The Port Way , a Roman road towards Sorviodunum (Old Sarum), followed the Bourne valley and passed close to the present settlements. The Domesday survey in 1086 recorded 15 households at Eunestetone (Idmiston), on land held by Glastonbury Abbey ; and eight at Poertone or Portone , on land held by Edward of Salisbury and Wulfric
192-751: 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
224-721: The BAC TSR.2 . Part of the base was also used by the RAF School of Aviation Medicine . The first hard-surface runway opened in October 1945 and was followed by two more runways with parallel taxiways to create the present-day layout. The runways extend into Idmiston and Allington parishes. With the end of the Cold War, the site was renamed the Aircraft and Armament Evaluation Establishment (AAEE) in 1992. All experimental work
256-562: The British Armed Forces . The airfield has one active runway 3,212 metres (10,538 ft) in length. The airfield's evaluation centre is currently home to Rotary Wing Test and Evaluation Squadron (RWTS), Fast Jet Test Squadron (FJTS), Heavy Aircraft Test Squadron (HATS), Handling Squadron, and the Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS). It will be home to an anti-jamming test facility by 2026. An aerodrome opened at
288-606: 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
320-471: The Red Arrows . An anti jamming test facility is to be built at Boscombe Down by 2026. QinetiQ will build one of Europe’s largest anechoic chambers that will be capable of housing large military assets such as Protector drones, Chinook helicopters, and F-35 fighter jets for testing against electronic warfare threats. The Heavy Aircraft Test Squadron (HATS) at RAF Boscombe Down was responsible for
352-799: The flight testing of heavy aircraft (multi-engine types). The department subsequently became known as Fixed Wing Test Squadron (FWTS); however, during the late 1980s, the title once more changed to that of the Heavy Aircraft Test Squadron. The following units were located at the base at some point: The following flying and non-flying units are based at MOD Boscombe Down. No. 1 Group (Air Combat) RAF No. 2 Group (Air Combat Support) RAF No. 22 Group (Training) RAF [REDACTED] Media related to RAF Boscombe Down 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
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#1732791598494384-713: The Boscombe Down site in October 1917 and operated as a Royal Flying Corps Training Depot Station. Known as Royal Flying Corps Station Red House Farm , it trained aircrews for operational roles in France during the First World War . Between opening and early 1919 the station accommodated No. 6 Training Depot, No. 11 Training Depot and No. 14 Training Depot. When the United States entered the war in April 1917,
416-566: The Bourne valley through the parish. There was a station at Porton from the beginning; between 1943 and 1968 a halt at Idmiston served Porton Down military camp. The railway remains in use as part of the West of England Main Line but there are no local stations. There are two primary schools in the parish. St Nicholas' CofE ( VA ) Primary School was built in 1972 between Idmiston and Porton. Idmiston village had its own school from 1833, replaced by
448-546: 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 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
480-469: The RAF arrived for evaluation. During this period, the station may have been involved in assisting the United States with its black projects . On 26 September 1994, after an aircraft crashed on landing due to a nosewheel collapse, a USAF C5 Galaxy was redirected to the station. It is speculated that the crashed plane was an Aurora , a hypersonic spy plane. Whatever it was, it was disassembled and returned to
512-589: The Royal Flying Corps began training groundcrew and aircrew of Aviation Section of the US Army at the airfield. During 1918 the 166th Aero Squadron and 188th Aero Squadron were present. At the end of the war in November 1918, the airfield became an aircraft storage unit until 1920 when it closed and the site returned to agricultural use. In 1930 the site reopened as Royal Air Force Boscombe Down ,
544-653: The US by the C5 Galaxy. Both the British and American Governments have refused to comment on the incident. Following the creation of QinetiQ in 2001, a 25-year Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) was established with the MoD, covering 16 sites including Boscombe Down. Under the agreement, Boscombe Down remains a government military airfield , but is operated by QinetiQ on behalf of the MoD. The Joint Test and Evaluation Group (JTEG)
576-536: 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
608-532: The hunter. Idmiston Manor is a house from c. 1600 with 17th-century interior features and an arched gateway from the same period; both house and gateway are Grade II* listed . The Old Rectory, opposite the church, also dates from the early 17th century and is also Grade II*. A small grass-runway aerodrome was opened in 1917 on farmland at Boscombe Down in the north of the parish for the Royal Flying Corps , and continued in use until 1920. The site
640-605: 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 the Falkland Islands , for instance, is assigned the ICAO code EGYP as though it were in
672-441: 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 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
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#1732791598494704-604: The outbreak of the Second World War . The move marked the beginning of A&AEE Boscombe Down and aircraft research and testing at the station, a role which it has retained into the 21st century. About fifty aircraft and military and civilian personnel had arrived by mid-September 1939. The necessary facilities required for the specialist work carried out by the A&;AEE were lacking at Boscombe Down, and its expansion resulted in many temporary buildings being constructed at
736-510: 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, 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
768-807: The station in an unplanned manner. Throughout the war, the airfield continued to have only grass runways and remained within its pre-war boundaries. Boscombe was used to test and evaluate many aircraft flown by the British Armed Forces during the Cold War . First flights of notable aircraft include the English Electric P 1, forerunner of the English Electric Lightning , the Folland Gnat and Midge , Hawker P.1067 (the prototype Hunter ), Westland Wyvern , and
800-471: 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 . Idmiston Idmiston
832-524: 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
864-603: Was announced that RAF Boscombe Down would become a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) airfield from early 2008, offering round-the-clock fighter coverage for the South and South West of UK airspace, when required. In April 2022, the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine retired its two BAE Systems Hawk T.1 which were based at Boscombe Down. The aircraft were used for trials by the centre's Aviation Medicine Flight. The flight moved to RAF Scampton to continue its work using Hawks operated by
896-691: 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
928-705: Was declared redundant , and St Nicholas' at Porton became the parish church; All Saints is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust . In 1977, the name of the ecclesiastical parish was 'Idmiston with Porton and Gomeldon'. Today the parish of 'St Nicholas Porton and District' is within the area of the Bourne Valley benefice, a group of six rural parishes. In 1857, the London and South Western Railway company opened its line from Andover to Milford station at Salisbury, following
960-543: Was established under the control of RAF Air Command , and together with QinetiQ, forms the Air Test and Evaluation Centre (ATEC). From 1 May 2007, Boscombe Down became the home of the Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron (JARTS) which was combined from the two Royal Navy and Royal Air Force elements who were responsible for aircraft moves and post-crash management. In October 2007, it
992-614: Was moved to the Defence Research Agency (DRA). Responsibility for the site passed from the MoD Procurement Executive to the Defence Test and Evaluation Organisation (DTEO) in 1993, which was amalgamated into the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in 1995. On 15 August 1995 the first Dominie T.2 for the RAF arrived for trials. On 31 October 1997 the first Panavia Tornado GR.4 in
MOD Boscombe Down - Misplaced Pages Continue
1024-416: Was reopened and enlarged to form RAF Boscombe Down in 1930, then repurposed in 1939 as an aircraft research and testing station. The first hard runway was built in 1945. Now called MoD Boscombe Down and extending into Amesbury and Allington parishes, its research and testing role continues. The Grade I listed All Saints Church, Idmiston was built in the 12th century as the parish church . In 1977 it
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