An IATA airport code, known by the IATA as an IATA location identifier or, simply, a location identifier [1] (http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/coding1), is a three-letter alphabetic code designating many airports around the world. These codes are defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The IATA airport codes are published tri-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 767, and it is administered by IATA headquarters in Montreal. IATA also provides codes for railway stations and for airport handling entities. An airport code is an acronym used to identify a specific airport. ... The International Air Transport Association is an international trade organization of airlines headquarted in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Concordia Salus (Salvation through harmony) Ville de Montréal, Québec, Canada Location. ...

The codes are not quite unique: 323 of these possible 17,576 codes are used by more than one airport.

The characters prominently displayed on baggage tags attached at airport check-in desks are an example of a way these codes are used.

While the IATA codes are the most familiar airport codes to airline 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. The ICAO airport code is a four-letter alphanumeric code designating each airport around the world. ... Over fifty GPS satellites such as this NAVSTAR have been launched since 1978. ...

A list of airports sorted by IATA code is available. Also, a list of rail stations codeshared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak, SNCF French Rail, Deutsche Bahn, Thalys International, and Swiss Rail is available. This list of commercial airports is indexed by their three-letter alphanumeric IATA airport code: The following web address (http://www. ... Here is a list of railway stations indexed by the IATA airport code. ... Amtrak is the trademark name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ... An SNCF train. ... Germanys main train operator, the Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railway Corporation, also known as DB or DBAG) provides passenger and freight service via federally owned tracks. ... Thalys Paris-Cologne Thalys is a high-speed train network built around the high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. ... Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. ...

External links

• IATA - Coding (http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/coding1)
• Airport ABCs: An Explanation of Airport Identifier Codes (http://www.skygod.com/asstd/abc.html)
• Airport code database, search by name, country, code, etc. (http://www.world-airport-codes.com)