Airport identifiers: ICAO, FAA and IATA

Published by PilotDeskSources, testing & corrections

The same airport can appear under different codes because several identifier systems serve different purposes. Pilots, airline passengers, weather products and databases do not always use the same identifier.

ICAO identifiers

ICAO location indicators are generally four characters and are used widely in international aviation, flight planning and weather reporting. In the contiguous United States, many ICAO airport identifiers begin with K, such as KGFK.

FAA location identifiers

The FAA assigns location identifiers to airports and other facilities in the U.S. system. These may be three or four characters and are not always identical to an airport's ICAO identifier.

IATA codes

IATA three-letter codes are familiar from airline tickets and baggage tags. They are oriented toward commercial passenger and airline use. Not every general-aviation airport has an IATA code.

Why the codes differ

An airport can have an FAA identifier, an ICAO identifier and an IATA code that are related but not identical. Some smaller airports may have only the identifiers needed for their operating context.

Weather station IDs

METAR and TAF products commonly use ICAO-style station identifiers in the U.S. A pilot searching weather may therefore need the four-character station code rather than the three-letter airline code.

Do not add a K blindly

Many U.S. airports fit the pattern where the ICAO identifier is K plus the familiar three-letter code, but this is not universal. Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories and airports with numeric or nonstandard FAA identifiers require care.

Use current data

Airport identifiers can change, and databases may contain facilities with similar names. Confirm the location, state and airport details rather than relying only on a code.

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