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.
37-539: Thanjavur Air Force Station ( IATA : TJV , ICAO : VOTJ ) is an Indian Air Force base serving the city of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu , India . It is located 12 km (7.5 mi) south-west of the city in Pilaiyarpatti and near the village of Ravusapatti. The air force base was expected to start functioning by 2012. However, the schedule was delayed, and the air force base was inaugurated on 27 May 2013 by
74-480: A 4-lane airport approach road is yet to be started after receiving permission and assistance from the Government of Tamil Nadu . The airport is situated at an elevation of 253 feet (77 m) above mean sea level . It had two runways with concrete surfaces: 07/25, measuring 5,680 by 150 feet (1,731 m × 46 m), and 14/32, measuring 4,757 by 150 feet (1,450 m × 46 m), out of which
111-567: 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
148-509: 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
185-673: Is a maritime strike unit based out of Thanjavur. It is the first Sukhoi Su-30 MKI squadron based in southern India and is the also the first squadron equipped with air launched BrahMos cruise missile. No. 222 Squadron was raised at Ambala on 15 September 1969, with Sukhoi Su-7 aircraft. In July 1971, the Squadron was moved to Halwara, and was soon engaged in combat with the PAF . The squadron carried out counter-air strikes against Risalewala and Chander airfields with immense success, despite stiff opposition. It provided CAS to ground units in
222-617: 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
259-523: 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
296-671: 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
370-543: 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
407-416: 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
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#1732794517324444-643: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Air Force (IAF) for exchange of land to the AAI, so that they can regain their control over the airport and develop it for facilitating commercial operations, which they had until 1990. Out of 56.16 acres as the total land area, the IAF has granted 26.5 acres of land to AAI, where it has proposed to develop
481-607: The Airports Authority of India (AAI). With the formation of the Southern Air Command in 1984, a permission for 47th wing at the airfield was also provided and declared. In the early 1990s, the airport operated commercial flights to Chennai via Vayudoot , which however, did not operate for long and was stopped due to poor patronage and financial struggles the airline faced, that caused it to cease operations in 1997. The Indian Air Force (IAF) took over
518-571: 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
555-647: The 14/32 runway has been now converted into a taxiway. It is home to the No. 222 squadron of the IAF's Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft - the first IAF fighter squadron in Southern India. A new helicopter unit composing of Chetak helicopters was inducted in Thanjavur on 19 March 2024. The unit was tasked with peacetime Search and Rescue and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. IATA airport code The assignment of these codes
592-649: The Dra-Baba-Nanak, Husseinwala and Firozpur sectors. The squadron virtually paralysed the Pakistani armour thrust, due to numerous strikes against enemy gunning positions, armour, and troops, exposing weak flanks to the ground forces. Short term interdiction missions were directed against rolling stock, rail tracks, marshalling yeards, bridges and enemy convoys. In this the Squadron achieved remarkable success. It conducted photo recon missions against enemy radar positions, deep inside enemy territory. The Squadron
629-470: 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 . No. 222 Squadron IAF No. 222 Squadron (Tigersharks)
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
703-659: The airfield in March 1990. During the heavy floods in Tamil Nadu in November 2008, IAF helicopters operating from Thanjavur dropped 15,000 kg of relief materials to the affected areas, operating from the air force base. The land acquisition for revamping the entire airfield began in 2006 and was completed and inaugurated by the former on 27 May 2013 by the former Minister of Defence , A. K. Antony . To foster socio-economic development and growth, connectivity and tourism in
740-460: The airport as a passenger terminal. In November 2023, the AAI announced that the terminal and other associated world will be constructed at a cost ₹ 200 crore. The development works are expected to take at least a year to complete, after receiving nods from the state and central governments and the Ministry of Civil Aviation . Land acquisition for the project is yet to be done; meanwhile, the work on
777-440: 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,
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#1732794517324814-418: 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
851-502: 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
888-934: 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
925-557: 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
962-478: 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
999-597: 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
1036-487: 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
1073-612: 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
1110-416: 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
1147-506: 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
Thanjavur Air Force Station - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-522: The state , there have been repeated attempts by both the state and the central governments to restart commercial operations in the airport, since Vayudoot ceased operations in 1997. Such attempts have increased consistently after the conversion of the airport into a revamped air force base in 2013, also as part of the government's UDAN Scheme to develop more airports in India to improve connectivity and encourage people to travel by air. In December 2022,
1221-500: 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
1258-477: The then Minister of Defence , A. K. Antony . The airfield was built and used by the Royal Indian Air Force (RAAF) in 1940 during World War II as a base for its Lockheed Hudson , Vickers Wellington , Hawker Hurricane , and P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. After independence, the airfield was handed over to the Government of India for civilian use and eventually came under the jurisdiction of
1295-515: 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
1369-590: Was highly decorated for its role in the war, including one MVC , 3 VrCs , 3 VMs , and two Mentions in Despatches. In May 1975, the squadron was shifted back to Ambala, and continued to operate there until 1981, when it shifted to Hindon on 14 May 1981. In December 1985, the Tigersharks became the first Indian squadron to be equipped with the MiG 27 Bahadur aircraft. The then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, visited
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