Airport codes are defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, a three-letter geocode designating many airports around the world.
Because there are often multiple airports near major cities, the air transportation industry needed to find a method of referring unambiguously to specific airports. This is where airport codes come into play as location identifiers.
How Are Airport Codes Assigned?
IATA Resolution 763 governs the assignment of these codes. Resolution 763 states that all member airlines must use the location IDs published three times per year in the “Airline Coding Directory.” The codes are used for ticketing, reservations, and baggage handling, among other uses. Most commonly, the airport code can be seen on the baggage tag added to checked bags at the check-in counter.
Location IDs covering United States airports are assigned by IATA in conjunction with the Air Transport Association (ATA). Some of the main features of the IATA/ATA location IDs are:
- All codes are in combinations of three letters.
- When possible, IATA assigns codes that coincide with the first three letters of the airport’s location or at least with the first letter of the name.
- Sometimes codes correspond with less obvious historical associations for a location (such as MCO for Orlando).
- In some cases, the first letter of an airport’s name is omitted and subsequent letters are used (such as wILMington).
- IATA codes are typically the same as the FAA-assigned three-letter codes. (but not always)
- Codes are considered permanent and are rarely reused.
The following are the most-used airports in each state. While states have hundreds of airports each, these are the most frequented airports for each.
- Birmingham International Airport - BHM
- Dothan Regional Airport - DHN
- Huntsville International Airport - HSV
- Mobile - MOB
- Montgomery - MGM
- Anchorage International Airport - ANC
- Fairbanks International Airport - FAI
- Juneau International Airport - JNU
- Flagstaff - FLG
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport - PHX
- Tucson International Airport - TUS
- Yuma International Airport - YUM
- Fayetteville - FYV
- Little Rock National Airport - LIT
- Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport - XNA
- Burbank - BUR
- Fresno - FAT
- Long Beach - LGB
- Los Angeles International Airport - LAX
- Oakland - OAK
- Ontario - ONT
- Palm Springs - PSP
- San Diego - SAN
- San Francisco International Airport - SFO
- San Jose - SJC
- Santa Ana - SNA
- Aspen - ASE
- Colorado Springs - COS
- Denver International Airport - DEN
- Grand Junction - GJT
- Pueblo - PUB
- Hartford - BDL
- Tweed New Haven - HVN
- Dulles International Airport - IAD
- Washington National Airport - DCA
- Daytona Beach - DAB
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport - FLL
- Fort Meyers - RSW
- Jacksonville - JAX
- Key West International Airport - EYK
- Miami International Airport - MIA
- Orlando - MCO
- Pensacola - PNS
- St. Petersburg - PIE
- Sarasota - SRQ
- Tampa - TPA
- West Palm Beach - PBI
- Panama City-Bay County International Airport - PFN
- Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport - ATL
- Augusta - AGS
- Savannah - SAV
- Hilo- ITO
- Honolulu International Airport - HNL
- Kahului - OGG
- Kailua - KOA
- Lihue - LIH
- Chicago Midway Airport - MDW
- O’Hare International Airport - ORD
- Moline - MLI
- Peoria - PIA
- Evansville - EVV
- Fort Wayne - FWA
- Indianapolis International Airport - IND
- South Bend - SBN
- Cedar Rapids - CID
- Des Moines - DSM
- Lexington - LEX
- Louisville - SDF
- Baton Rouge - BTR
- New Orleans International Airport - MSY
- Shreveport - SHV
- Augusta - AUG
- Bangor - BGR
- Portland - PWM
- Logan International Airport - BOS
- Hyannis - HYA
- Nantucket - ACK
- Worcester - ORH
- Battlecreek - BTL
- Detroit Metropolitan Airport - DTW
- Detroit - DET
- Flint - FNT
- Grand Rapids - GRR
- Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport - AZO
- Lansing - LAN
- Saginaw - MBS
- Duluth - DLH
- Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport - MSP
- Rochester - RST
- Gulfport - GPT
- Jackson - JAN
- Kansas City - MCI
- Lambert International Airport - STL
- Springfield - SGF
- Las Vegas McCarran International Airport - LAS
- Reno-Tahoe International Airport - RNO
- Atlantic City International Airport - ACY
- Newark International Airport - EWR
- Trenton - TTN
- Albuquerque International Airport - ABQ
- Alamogordo - ALM
- Albany International Airport - ALB
- Buffalo - BUF
- John F. Kennedy International Airport - JFK
- La Guardia Airport - LGA
- Syracuse - SYR
- Asheville - AVL
- Charlotte/Douglas International Airport - CLT
- Fayetteville - FAY
- Greensboro - GSO
- Raleigh - RDU
- Winston-Salem - INT
- Bismark - BIS
- Fargo - FAR
- Akron - CAK
- Cincinnati - CVG
- Cleveland - CLE
- Columbus - CMH
- Dayton - DAY
- Toledo - TOL
- Oklahoma City - OKC
- Tulsa - TUL
- Eugene - EUG
- Portland International Airport - PDX
- Hillsboro Airport - HIO
- Salem - SLE
- Allentown - ABE
- Erie - ERI
- Harrisburg - MDT
- Philadelphia - PHL
- Pittsburgh - PIT
- Scranton - AVP
- Charleston - CHS
- Columbia - CAE
- Greenville - GSP
- Myrtle Beach - MYR
- Pierre - PIR
- Rapid City - RAP
- Sioux Falls - FSD
- Bristol - TRI
- Chattanooga - CHA
- Knoxville - TYS
- Memphis - MEM
- Nashville - BNA
- Amarillo - AMA
- Austin Bergstrom International Airport - AUS
- Corpus Christi - CRP
- Dallas Love Field Airport - DAL
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport - DFW
- El Paso - ELP
- William B Hobby Airport - HOU
- George Bush International Airport - IAH
Washington
- Pasco/Tri-Cities Airport - PSC
- Tacoma International Airport - SEA
- Spokane International Airport - GEG
- Charleston - CRW
- Clarksburg - CKB
- Huntington Tri-State Airport - HTS
- Green Bay - GRB
- Madison - MSN
- Milwaukee - MKE
- Casper - CPR
- Cheyenne - CYS
- Jackson Hole - JAC
- Rock Springs - RKS