IATA and ICAO airport codes
Updated
Most large airports have two codes. London Heathrow is LHR on a
boarding pass and EGLL on a flight plan. AvMap accepts either, so
JFK-LHR and KJFK-EGLL draw the same
route.
IATA codes
IATA codes have three letters and are assigned by the International Air Transport Association, the airline trade group. They appear on tickets, boarding passes, baggage tags, and departure boards. Many come from the city or airport name, such as SYD for Sydney and DXB for Dubai. Others don’t: ORD comes from Orchard Field, the airport’s name before it was renamed O’Hare, and most Canadian codes start with Y, as in YYZ for Toronto Pearson.
ICAO codes
ICAO codes have four letters and are assigned through the International Civil Aviation Organization. Pilots, air traffic control, flight plans, and weather reports such as METARs use them. The first letter shows the region, and the second often narrows it to a country.
| Prefix | Region | Example |
|---|---|---|
| K | Contiguous United States | KJFK (JFK) |
| C | Canada | CYYZ (YYZ) |
| P | Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of the Pacific | PANC (ANC), PHNL (HNL) |
| E | Northern Europe | EGLL (LHR) |
| L | Southern Europe, including France | LFPG (CDG) |
| O | Middle East | OMDB (DXB) |
| R | Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines | RJTT (HND) |
| Z | China | ZBAA (PEK) |
| Y | Australia | YSSY (SYD) |
Airports with one code, or none
Of the 41,306 airports and airfields in AvMap’s data, about 10,500 have an ICAO code. Many airstrips, heliports, and private fields have neither code and use a local identifier instead, such as 00A for a heliport in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. AvMap uses the IATA code when there is one, then the ICAO code, then the local identifier.
Some IATA codes stand for a whole city rather than one airport, such as LON for London and NYC for New York. AvMap draws routes between airports, so use a specific airport code such as LHR or LGW.
Using codes in AvMap
-
Type IATA or ICAO codes, or mix them in one route, as in
KJFK-LHR. -
Codes don’t need capital letters.
jfk-lhrworks too. - If you don’t know a code, search by city or airport name.
Try it
Open KJFK-EGLL to see a route drawn from ICAO codes, or YSSY-RJTT and CYYZ-LFPG for two more.