In these instances, cities used railways station codes, which also used a two-letter Morse code indicator. Airport Codes Quiz #1 - JetPunk Why do CRT TVs need a HSYNC pulse in signal? 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. Her obsession with cryptocurrency keeps her writing most days about the best exchanges and wallets, and the wild world of NFTs. Airport codes are unique three letter codes given to each airport. Toronto (YYZ) -Vancouver (YVR) -Montral (YUL) -Calgary (YYC), Ottawa (YOW) - Edmonton (YEG) -Halifax (YHZ) -Winnipeg (YWG), Victoria (YYJ) -Kelowna (YLW) -Qubec City (YQB) -Saskatoon (YXE), See only the best flight deals we find each day, Explore the best flight and hotel deals for weekend travel, Caroline Morse Teel - Southwest Airlines Performance Business Card Review: Amazing Wi-Fi Resisting Temptation In Lufthansa First Class. Albeit confusing, that's loosely the method on how Canada created most of its cryptic and confounding IATA airport codes. The storage or technical access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. Imagine if you had to book individual flights and make separate arrangements for your luggage for every leg of an international journey. Y Do All Canadian Airport Codes Start with the Letter Y? - Airfarewatchdog Criticism alone won't help! Why do Canadian airport codes begin with Y? : NoStupidQuestions - Reddit If you have something to say about facts on this blog, why can't you just James thank you for answering a question that has been bugging me for the past 40 years. There is hidden history behind many of the worlds IATA airport codes. Canadian Airport Codes. Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. Some retain the 3 letters in the 4 letters' coding (like LAX->KLAX), some don't (like LHR->EGLL). It would probably be easier for everyone if Canada renamed its airports in a more logical three digit code, but the problem is that all the good ones are already taken. Airport Code | Airport Codes and Airline Tickets The reason you see resemblance is because its an "old" airport. Canada airport code list. Several references on the net indicate that the ICAO codes precedes the IATA codes. Canadian Airport Codes are unique because they all begin with the letter Y. + The Ultimate Guide to Life Insurance Medical Exams. 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. They used these codes to make it easier for pilots to navigate to different airports. How is it any harder to remember (e.g.) Why do other cities have logical airport codes while Toronto and Montreal have random letters? Pearson's for example doesn't offer such a history that's why I offered a possible guess at the bottom. January 20, 2022, Peter Thornton - When it comes to navigating Canadian airports, scratch your head and ask why? Quality of articles by James is falling. All products and services mentioned on Airfarewatchdog are independently selected by our team of expert travelers. So how and why did they come up with these confusing airport code identifiers? SFO is short for San Francisco, ATL is universally recognized as shorthand for Atlanta, and even IAH stands for the international airport of Houston. 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 . See answer below. NS - Nova Scotia. Every airport in the world has a 3-letter code that is maintained by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Some special interest groups successfully lobbied the government to obtain their own special letters. + How to Apply for a Business Credit Card (and Get Approved), + Best Credit Cards to Rebuild your Credit, + Everything you need to know about your credit score in Canada, + Tips to improve your credit rating in Canada, + What is a Credit Score? KWTF? Why Do Canadian Airport Codes Begin With The Letter Y? - Simple Flying Tokyo uses TYO to encompass both Narita (NRT) and Haneda (HND) airports. Canada does not have an underlying system for airport codes. Honestly, I don't think that this was a very good answer. The Y, of course, comes as expected and the TO short for Toronto. BC - British Columbia. 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. According to the FAA, the ground stop was ordered so repairs could be made to communication systems at the Potomac Terminal . One would be wrong. "Originally, the letter Y was dropped in front of the two-letter code that had . Airports with weather/radio stations were given the Y prefix, while airports without these facilities were assigned a W prefix. I'd be more interested as to why so many ICAO codes have the same final three letters: A good portion of the world's airports have codes that make sense in relation to their respective city or historical name. Many smaller airports in the US have little resemblance to the city name, too. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. Just like the US uses K and W. I've also been told that airports with a "Y" either have or once had a weather office. "All US airports' first ICAO letter is K . Does the Capital One Venture X offer a virtual card number? In a world of mega-sized metropolitan areas featuring massive international airports, it is easy to forget that many major airports fall outside of city limits & have their own unique story. Quite simply, the Y stands for yes and W is short for without. And just when you figure theres a pattern YOW for Ottawa, YVR for Vancouver along comes Montreal (YUL), Edmonton (YEG) and Saskatoon (YXE). Use the HARDBACON promo code to get $20 when you open a free KOHO account and make a purchase. These two-letter indicators tied to the local weather towers were often situated in locations that housed airports along with radio stations. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. I really appreciate James going to the trouble of researching this and sharing the results with us. You make Huff Post or buzzfeed articles look more legit than the posts you write. There are other airports, like Yangambi, Congo (YAN) and Yasawa Island (YAS) that start with the letter Y and are not in Canada. What's the domestic to international connection procedure at Stansted airport? For example, at the time Montral-Dorvals radio call sign happened to be UL. Eventually Canada ran out of codes, so V and Z were added (W, ZE, etc.) Origin of the strange Canadian Airport Codes YVR or YUL or YYZ, for Vancouver, Montral, and Toronto than remembering MCO is Orlando, MCI is Kansas City, and BNA is Nashville? 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. 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 I dont think that would have happened with an airport code if it were just a normal easy-to-remember one. YEG = Edmonton. But why y? By saying yes to the Y, Canada firmly aligned all its commercial airports with the same letter making it the only major country to assign IATA codes in this style. Enjoy a welcome bonus of $5 ! LAX = Los Angeles. 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. Everyone complaining, please go away and read another blog, preferably one you pay for which would then give you a solid reason to complain. Las Vegas breaks temperature record that was nearly 300 - AccuWeather The call signs doubled as Morse code transmissions for pilots to use a navigational beacon to locate the airport. @jwenting really? Great Idea! ". As for Sean M. and his fellow haters, why can't you just engage in polite and respectful discussion. It's related to how "Canada" first got its name. @Flimzy The reason is that 'N' is reserved for Naval locations. Airports around the World - IATA code: Y - Nations Online Project Abbreviations for Canadian provinces: AB - Alberta. I meant Ekaterinburg, with a U. Misspelled above. Most countries dont have standardized IATA airport code prefixes, but Canadas airport naming convention is rooted in pre-IATA identification codes. Citizens of Richmond, British Columbia deal with oblivious visitors to YVR who assume they are stepping out into the city of Vancouver as soon as they walk off the jetbridge. Nope, thatd be too easy. Rush is from Toronto.) CYYZ was the beacon at Malton, Ontario where Toronto Pearson International Airport is now located. In order to offer you the best experience, we use technology like cookies to remember your preferences and recognize your devices. You give us the major city served by that airport. Not all Canadian airports start with Y, though most do and certainly all the big ones - eg Bathurst New Brunswick is ZBF - and there are airports outside Canada that start with Y (search for "(Y" on http://aircargotracking.skysthelimitsd.com/air-freight-news/international-airport-codes/ for tons.) I know Edmonton pretty proudly wears YEG as a hashtag and brand for the city as a whole, not just the airport. 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. ZCX is not an airport but a command center just outside Washington D.C., that controls the airline traffic into major terminals. Airport Code Quizzes - JetPunk Which brings me to Canada. Insulting the author and not giving any actionable advice is just called being an asshole. It's SJI. 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. :), I was also surprised to see not one, but two airport codes for London International airport that are wrong. All About Airport Codes - Everything Everywhere Daily Podcast Well for many ICAO codes the first letter refers to a larger region, the second letter refers to a country within that larger region, and then the actual airport is a two letter abbreviation as the last two letters. How to describe a scene that a small creature chop a large creature's head off? I have also seen the theory advanced that the codes derive from radio transmitter identifers: ITU assigns the prefixes CF-CK, CY, and CZ to Canada, of which CY and CZ are reserved for transportation. However, there are a handful of Canadian airports whose code starts with a 'Z.' What's the closest airport to the Flatiron District and Chelsea neighbourhood in NY? However, when you look into the history of airport codes, they make perfect sense. Maximum duration for Canada's short term visas? As for Sean M. and his fellow haters, why can't you just engage in polite and respectful discussion. he's updated it now dingits. One country may be divided into multiple regions, for example, India is divided As others have pointed out, there are factual errors in this article. Some Canadian airports add letters from the city's name after the Y, such as YOW for Ottawa, YYC for Calgary and YVR for Vancouver (which really stands for Yes Very Rainy, Vancouverite Al. IATA was formed in 1945, ICAO was formed in 1947. The short answer is that by regulation, the three-character IATA code for an airport in Canada generally corresponds to a three-character Transport Canada code (TCLID), which in turn generally corresponds to the last three letters of its four-character ICAO airport code. Unlike JFK (JFK), Boston (BOS), Miami (MIA), Sydney (SYD) Madrid (MAD) and Singapore (SIN), Canadian airport codes begin with a Y. All US airports first ICAO letter is K . You can stop now. The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered. What bemuses me is when I see Canadian airports - they (so far) all seem to start with Y. YVR = Vancouver. January 12, 2022, Deals on this route, top deals from your home airport, and travel tips & news.