Read something else. I'd be more interested as to why so many ICAO codes have the same final three letters: Airport codes: C Canton/Akron, OH (CAK) Cedar Rapids, IA (CID) Champaign/Urbana, IL (CMI) Charleston, SC (CHS) Charleston, WV (CRW) Charlotte, NC (CLT) Chattanooga, TN (CHA) Cheyenne, WY (CYS) Chicago, IL -All airports (CHI) Chicago, IL -Midway (MDW) Chicago, IL -O'Hare (ORD) Cincinnati, OH (CVG) Clarksburg, WV (CKB) Cleveland, OH (CLE) Clovis . Some special interest groups successfully lobbied the government to obtain their own special letters. If youre new to credit or have a blemished credit history, you might be wondering if you need a credit card to, A powerful and innovative search engine, Google is also the worlds most comprehensive database for flight searches. When it comes to navigating Canadian airports, scratch your head and ask why? I agree with @Sean M. There are a lot of nitty-gritties involved in ICAO codes. It's SJI. Storage or technical access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Be careful not to assume that all airport codes starting with the letter Y are located in Canada. Another example is Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (ICAO: FVFA, IATA: VFA), but that is because the ICAO F region is used for most of Sub-Saharan Africa, and Zimbabwe's region code is FV. Kathy Hochul . AKL = Auckland. Flat fields with strong winds evolved into transportation hubs, places of work, and increasingly shopping malls. Get yourself an advantagrous and flexible card for the traveler in you! That way you are helping everyone interested in this topic. Visitors who travel to our neighbors to the north may notice that Canadian airport codes all seem to start with the same letter. Can't see empty trailer when backing down boat launch. Metro Oh and the metropolitan codes that came along much later are YTO for Toronto and YMQ for Montreal. There are a few exceptions including smaller regional airports where they may not start with a "Y.". With due to respect to all people who are criticizing; it is very easy to criticize and find errors! When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Smoke from wildfires in Canada dissipated from New York City and the Tri-State area. Didn't your parents teach you anything? For example the UK is in region E with a country code of EG. Westjet Air Transat First Air Canadian North Below you can find a list of all commercial airports in Canada. But WHY use the Y for Canadian airport codes? After this point, at least the last 2-letters of new codes could make more sense (YTS, YMM, etc.) As you can see in these cases, the IATA code is simply the ICAO code minus the first letter. Since the majority of Canadian IATA airports codes start with Y (more than 80% and not only new ones), there is likely a reason for it and not just that they had to take some arbitrary, free code. What other IATA codes do you know with interesting backstories? And just when you figure there's a pattern - YOW for Ottawa, YVR for Vancouver - along comes Montreal (YUL), Edmonton (YEG) and Saskatoon (YXE). Or more accurately: Y? You have successfully joined our subscriber list. Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners. SFO is short for San Francisco, ATL is universally recognized as shorthand for Atlanta, and even IAH stands for the international airport of Houston. Your email address will not be published. Emma Martin writes about the curiosities of finance. To further confuse the flying masses, metropolitan areas with several airports can also be searched under umbrella IATA codes. For anyone who's flown, you'll know that every airport has a unique three-letter code associated with it. The perfect card for travelers! Make passive income online from sharing your internet and earn up to 140$! The US is actually divided into multiple regions - K1 thru K7 (I think from memory), but the airports are not coded with the region. Lets find out.Article link: https://simpleflying.com/canadian-airport-codes/Video source links: YYC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U4vSmmTTRUYUL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= beBdb2KLDCgYUL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= jc-qDP5fFKkYUL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= P3emKyEN6rUYUL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= CEEWJX4MpLIYYZ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 02InoJX_kCAYYZ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= p8yt6XCuFI0YVR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= jrdtIKgTm-YYVR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= Ej7rdZU9j1IYVR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= b6S3btW1IuETransaero https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= KhWpF9wjU_MBritish Airways https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4JdQi60an0Photo sources:https://www.flickr.com/photos/_yuki_k_/4467922519https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Narita_Airport_Terminal_2_exterior.jpghttps://www.flickr.com/photos/ram_horizonte/3031725663https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kuwait_airport.jpghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Dorado_Airport,_Bogota_(25763751451).jpghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CDG-aerialview.jpghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JFK_Airport-_Birdview.jpghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Joseph_Snowden_-_Arrival_at_Sheremetyevo_International_Airport_04.jpghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trans_Canada_Airlines_North_Star_Heathrow_1951.jpghttps://www.flickr.com/photos/45379817@N08/9319032860Website: https://simpleflying.com/Instagram: http://instagram.com/simpleflyingnewsTwitter: https://twitter.com/simple_flying#Aviation #Flight #Avgeek As others have pointed out, there are factual errors in this article. How about Miami? While some Canadian IATA codes follow in that footprint like Torontos YYZ airport, which uses the radio code for the city of Malton where its located, others follow different naming patterns. For reference, lets look at some of the IATA & ICAO codes for the largest airports in Canada: This means that Canadas ICAO airport codes are doubly redundant: not only do they have the ICAO-specific C prefix to identify them as airports located on Canadian ground, but also the Y prefix from their IATA code. In Europe (almost) every IATA code differs from the last 3 letters of the ICAO code. The ICAO is responsible for setting international air travel standards, so ICAO airport codes are utilized in the aviation industry for official tasks like flight planning and air traffic control. How then does Canada explain confusing airport codes like Torontos YYZ or Montreals YUL? When IATA formed and began requiring airports worldwide to extend their codes to three-letters (as two-letter codes were becoming scarce) during the 1940s, most of Canadas airports had already adopted the Y for yes prefix due to their weather reporting and radio stations located on site. document.getElementById( "ak_js" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); I was a travel student. For the second "Y" in "YYZ", I wonder if York (now a part of Toronto) is involved somehow (I don't know if the airport is in former York or original Toronto.). Nobody seems to know why, but my theory is to help everyone know if they were discussing an airport on the opposite side of the border or not. How do you remember Canadian airport codes? @ Jay - I've updated the post to reflect this - its from a weather station indicating 'Yes' there is an airport at the location. NT - Northwest Territory. - Travel Industry News Why do Canadian airport codes all begin with a Y? Passengers are familiar with these three-digit airport codes because IATA codes are used for ticketing & other passenger-facing communications. In order to keep each airport code unique, it makes sense that not all airports can use abbreviations for their names. Chicago's Orchard Field Airport became ORD (only "O" has any resemblance). (The start of the the song YYZ by the band Rush is the Morse code for the letters Y Y Z. I was aware that all the airports in Canada were prefaced by the letter, Y. However, I did not know the logic behind it. Why is there a drink called = "hand-made lemon duck-feces fragrance". . Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. @James I love reading your articles, and find the content you produce to be continually informative and entertaining. How about Montreal? Most countries dont have standardized IATA airport code prefixes, but Canadas airport naming convention is rooted in pre-IATA identification codes. I would really appreciate the downvoters to comment, @littleadv The ICAO was established in 1944 and began work in 1945, but the agreement that formed it was not fully ratified until 1947 (see. + Is Making Bi-Weekly Payments on a Mortgage a Good Idea? Airport Codes Quiz #1 We give you the airport code. So why do Canadian airport codes begin with the letter Y? This was done to clarify whether the airport had a radio tower or not. For more information about any of these airports click on the airport name. Is it linked to Canada somehow? How is it any harder to remember (e.g.) To follow along with our travels, engage with us on Twitter &Instagram. The Canadian city of Sault Ste. For the more random letters like YQX for Gander International Airport, try to think of a visual or audible connection. While we do try to list all the best miles and points deals, the site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. Los Angeles airport was LA, San Francisco was SF, San Jose was SJ, etc. Image: P199 IATA codes starting with the letter Y Below you will find a list of IATA codes in alphabetic order beginning with the letter Y. Airports with weather/radio stations were given the Y prefix, while airports without these facilities were assigned a W prefix. Debts Repayment Calculator (Avalanche Method). Particularly, when it comes to ICAO codes. There are 518 Airports in Canada and this list covers all these 518 Canada Airports. Im pretty good with world airport codes but hopeless with Canadian ones YVR is about the only one I can remember! Type: Medium airport : City: Yakutat: Country: United States: IATA: YAK: ICAO: PAYA: FAA: YAK: Alert Bay: Type: Medium airport : City: Alert Bay: Country: Canada: IATA: YAL: ICAO: CYAL: Sault Ste Marie: Type: Medium airport : City: Sault Ste Marie: Country: Canada: IATA: YAM: ICAO: CYAM: Yangambi Rather than using the spelling of the airport name to create an identifier, many Canadian airport codes seem to be random combinations of letters. More quiz info >> Start Quiz The next time you fly into an airport, take a minute to look into the history of its airport code. LED is used by Saint Petersburg, beucase the previous name of this city is "Leningrad". I've been walking around proudly "branded" by Montreal's airport code yet when asked, I didn't know why Montreal was YUL until now maybe. Required fields are marked *. So how and why did they come up with these confusing airport code identifiers? North Americas first airports typically had just two letter codes, usually based on the weather station or radio transmitter where the strip was located. Eventually, the IATA started assigning airport codes to airports all over the world, and Canada kept their Y and W letters at the beginning. The overwhelming majority of Canadian airports begin with a Y these days, though we did find a few tiny airports like WPC (Pincher Creek Airport) & WNN (Wunnumin Lake Airport) that begin with the rare W prefix. Travel Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for road warriors and seasoned travelers. If there were no weather stations at the airport, a W would be administered for "without." Combining the Y from Yes and the UL radio station code, YUL was born. I actually pity people like you, you must lead a very lonely life (unsurprisingly). Why do all Canadian airports seem to have airport codes that start with Y? Tied into this somehow are radio stations. Get 20% off your annual subscription! San Jose, California is SJC. January 25, 2022, Brittany VanDerBill - Y stood for yes, meaning they did have a radio tower, and W stood for without, meaning they did not have a radio tower. I know Edmonton pretty proudly wears YEG as a hashtag and brand for the city as a whole, not just the airport. It is wise to purchase travel insurance in case you run into any problems. Several references on the net indicate that the ICAO codes precedes the IATA codes. Many smaller airports in the US have little resemblance to the city name, too. NB - New Brunswick. Due to the size of the list it has been broken down into the following: Almost all Canadian airport codes start with Y, to indicate that they were equipped with a radio tower when they were first built. Construction of two uncountable sequences which are "interleaved". Most people refer to the three letter IATA code when referring to an airport code. Most airport codes around the world tend to be shortened versions of the city or airport name, but in Canada they all seem to begin with a Y, and then two letters unrelated to either. What is the status for EIGHT man endgame tablebases? The list seen here is the original Trans-Canada airway completed in 1939. Like Vancouver being "VAN" or Calgary "CAL" or "CGY"? Her favourite exchanges right now are Bitbuy, NDAX, and VirgoCX. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. On the other hand, airports like YQX and YYT have Canadian codes even though their corresponding radio callsigns would have had VA-VG or VO prefixes, the codes assigned for Newfoundland, which did not join Canada until 1949. All over the world, there have been delays in getting identification and reports of pilot and staff shortages. ZCX is not an airport but a command center just outside Washington D.C., that controls the airline traffic into major terminals. List of airports in Canada. Others were created by using nearby town names, or just replacing letters of towns within old railway systems in Canada. + Fixed vs Variable Rate Mortgages in Canada: What Are the Differences? @David preach! Canadian Airport Codes are unique because they all begin with the letter Y. Since Canada locked up the Y for its radio transmitters, it also locked up the Y for its airport codes. KWTF? Well M is Dash Dash, O is Dash Dash Dash, Q is Dash Dash Dot Dash. Google Flights is changing the, Subscribe to our free newsletter and receive personal finance content every week. Originally, airports were called by the city name. Canada airports were originally given either a Y or a W as the first letter of their airport identification code. The C and K regions (Canada and the mainland U.S.) are the ONLY places where prefixing the letter C/K to the IATA code gives the ICAO. Many smaller municipal airports, heliports, and private jet runways have codes beginning with other letters of the alphabet (Mostly W (previously explained: Without), X or Z). Albeit confusing, that's loosely the method on how Canada created most of its cryptic and confounding IATA airport codes. Why do people take the time and complain about a article? Canada airport code list. Rather than each Canadian airport completely renaming their codes to match the name of the airport or city they served, they simply added a 'Y' to the front of each 2 letter code, with the Y indicating that each airport was Canadian. If you're so clever, why don't you go and start your own blog and see how successful you are with it. Now QP Princeton become YQP, YZ Toronto became YYZ, etc. The call signs doubled as Morse code transmissions for pilots to use a navigational beacon to locate the airport. The only semblance of a system is the "Y". It's possible that being closely tied to Canada, they used Canadian codes, or that they adopted new codes after confederation. @littleadv IATA bases their codes on the ICAO codes unless doing so would cause conflict with other IATA codes. See the pattern in the 1st letter? You can save money or earn rewards points by using travel credit cards to purchase your airline tickets, car rental and hotel. Rather than each Canadian airport completely renaming their codes to match the name of the airport or city they served, they simply added a Y to the front of each 2 letter code, with the Y indicating that each airport was Canadian. According to a quotation in an Airliners.net thread (take it for what you will, but it was the closest thing to a real citation I could find), Canada's were based on existing weather service codes: Canada used two letters for identification of a weather reporting station. Abbreviations for Canadian provinces: AB - Alberta. Open a new chequing account with the BMO NewStart Program and get $400 welcome bonus, no account fees for a year and other freebies. Hamilton (Munro), ON: 545,800: Abbotsford, BC: 503,693: London, ON: 449,745: Charlottetown, PE: 282,385: Whitehorse (Nielsen), YK? Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. Some, like Winnipeg International Airport, are easy because the letters are contained within the name. Full disclosure - I am an educator so it's my job to come up with crazy tricks to remember useless junk. Played: 2,128. It only takes a minute to sign up. I think one of the best parts of this blog is that it brings together the brightest avgeek minds from around the world to strengthen our collective knowledge, especially on topics the authors themselves may not be an expert on. nice to have the background primer, thx! James thank you for answering a question that has been bugging me for the past 40 years. The storage or technical access is necessary for the purpose of legitimate interest to store preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. Punch in MIA and youre good to go. Why isnt Toronto called YTO? Although all of the letters in Canadian airport codes seem random, they all have meaning and historical significance if you want to look them up. Emma also invests in the stock market using Wealthsimple Trade. Some countries are in one region (such as Canada) but this is th exception. LHR = London Heathrow. YNG in Youngstown, OH and YUM in Yuma, AZ are a couple examples of U.S. airports that are exceptions for obvious reasons. The YZ at the end of the Toronto Pearson International airport identifier is the Morse code identifier for Malton, where the airport was built. The W stood for without, meaning there was no radio tower. Considering there are around 7000 planes flying above North American skies each day, one would think theres a well-planned and logical explanation for all this. + What Are the Main Benefits of Refinancing Your Mortgage? One would be wrong. And an 'N', eh? + The Ultimate Guide to Life Insurance Medical Exams. From what I can understand, prior to the establishment of IATA, each Canadian airport originally had only a two letter code relating. IATA Airport Codes by City (ASIA) Played: 1,267. Since Canadian airport codes all begin with the letter Y, that only leaves two letters per airport to memorize. And so on. For example, the four digit code for LHR is EGLL. This was done to clarify whether the airport had a radio tower or not. In Canada, all airports must start with a letter 'Y.' Y VR (Vancouver), Y YC (Calgary), Y TZ (Toronto-City), Y UL (Montreal), all start with a " Y .". This Wikipedia article is a very good starting point for research, particularly for those who are not in the airline/aviation industry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICAO_airport_code. Airport codes were determined by weather stations, radio transmitters, cities, or in some cases, the name of the original fields in which they were located (for example Chicagos OHare Airport code is ORD, for Orchard Field). The distinctiveness of the Y airport codes are being turned into a marketing and branding positive. Everyone complaining, please go away and read another blog, preferably one you pay for which would then give you a solid reason to complain. CHICAGO A smoky haze from Canadian wildfires blanketed Chicago and much of the upper Midwest early Wednesday, a day after a sudden decline in air quality forced many residents of America's . This helps explain how Vancouver ended up with YVR and Winnipeg got YWG: the Y prefix precedes two-digit codes that seem to be shortened versions of the airports city (e.g. Iqaluit, NU? The connection only has to make sense for you. So why do the ICAO codes for Canadian airports all start with CY or CZ? The same goes for YOW, Y + OttaWa, and YQB, Y + QuBec. Then how do you explain EGLL<->LHR (and similarly all the rest of European airports)? From tickets to barcoded luggage tags to boarding passes, you'll see these IATA . You make Huff Post or buzzfeed articles look more legit than the posts you write. I dont think that would have happened with an airport code if it were just a normal easy-to-remember one. I believe airports were already adding a Y to the front of their 2 letter code, where there was a weather station attached to the airport the Y indicating Yes there is a weather station there. The same goes for the people of Malton (now Mississauga) for YYZ visitors and countless other smaller communities that feel overshadowed by larger cities. Tokyo uses TYO to encompass both Narita (NRT) and Haneda (HND) airports. 1 Minute - Quick Application. Most of the worlds ICAO codes are completely unrecognizable when compared with the IATA code, but North Americas ICAO codes are often based on their IATA code. What's the best way to get from Madrid Airport to Sevilla? The Federal Communications Committee set aside the 'W' and 'K' codes for radio stations east and west of the Mississippi respectively. IATA codes are the airports that most travelers are familiar with, but they arent the only codes used to identify airfields. I have always wondered about this and glad to know that at the very least, there are some of us who still appreciate learning something new every day, instead of just bitching about what has been presented. WellYNOT? A few days ago Ben wrote about the humorous tale of a man in Canada boarding the wrong flight 1,800 miles in the wrong direction, and ending up at an airport that didnt even sound like the town he was supposed to fly to. 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Many countries systematize the coding internally, for example many newer Canadian airports start with Y, which makes them grouped in the lists of airports. Not to mention the four US airports that begin with their own Y, tasty Yuma (YUM) for example and the anomalies that begin with a Z (ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick). Using railway station codes as opposed to radio tower identifiers allowed for many Canadian airports to form almost recognizable airport codes. YTO is the generic code for the airports in Waterloo, Hamilton, Mississauga (Pearson) and Toronto (Billy Bishop). Montreal is YUL and I always think of thatthat or the USPS ran a commercial saying, "We deliver for Yule!" See more about our ethics policies here. However, CA-CX are unused. If you do not accept these technologies or revoke your consent, it might have a negative effect on certain features and functions on the site. "Originally, the letter Y was dropped in front of the two-letter code that had . By the way for those wondering about YYZ, seems YZ was the two letter code for the station in Malton, where the airport is situated. YTO is the airline code for the entire region, with YTZ for Billy Bishop Airport, and YYZ the original radio transmitter code for a village called Malton, which is where Toronto Pearson International Airport is located today. Let us know in the comments below! Nowadays, virtually every airport in Canada has a IATA code that begins with a Y, though not all airport codes that begin with Y are in Canada. There are four letter codes for the airports also, and those start with C - eg CYYZ for Toronto - but everybody seems to drop the C unless maybe they're discussing weather stations or radio frequencies. Why does DFW International Airport charge visitors a, Everything you need to know about ZED travel. The Canadians made off with all the remaining 'Y codes which helps explain YUL for Montreal, YYC for Calgary, etc. However, an exception to this trend is in Canada, where most codes begin with the letter Y. YVR (Vancouver) , YYC (Calgary), YYZ (Toronto) , and YUL (Montreal) are high-profile examples, but this pattern extends down to . Chicago is close enough to Canada to bring us back to the Y. And San Jose in Costa Rica? Why do other cities have logical airport codes while Toronto and Montreal have random letters? Marie, on the international border of Michigan, reached an AQI reading Monday night as high as 353, which is Code Maroon. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. What am I talking about? This answers why airports may have codes that do not reflect their names or locations, but not why Canadian airports all have IATA codes that start with Y or Z.
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