How much do you know? Unraveling the mystery of the 3 aviation codes!

By: Little Travel Kid

Airlines frequently offer big discounts, making it common for office workers to travel ten or eight times a year. Airlines like UO, CX, and KA, which often have promotions and cheap deals, only need their code to be released, and everyone knows to get ready to hit the F5 key. But what about T...? Well, you might not even know why the X in CX (Cathay Pacific) is there. Sorry, but you might not even know why the X in CX (Cathay Pacific) is there!

1. Airline Two-Letter Code (Airline Designator)

In fact, every airline has a two-letter code, composed of the 26 English letters and Arabic numerals 0-9. As for what each letter means for the airline, to be honest, it doesn’t mean anything. Because they are all issued by IATA (International Air Transport Association), just like license plates or stock codes, they are only for easy recording and identification. As for the X in Cathay Pacific’s CX, it is said to stand for “Cross-Pacific,” while an example of a numeric and alphabetic combination is 7C for Jeju Air!

2. City Code (City Code)

 Have you ever looked at the destination printed on your boarding pass and had no idea what it means? In fact, internationally, any city with regular scheduled flights has a three-letter uppercase city code. Common ones like Tokyo / TYO or Taipei / TPE are not hard to grasp. But the codes for Los Angeles Airport / LAX or Beijing / BJS are completely different. In fact, they are all issued by IATA (International Air Transport Association), but some are derived from the first three letters of the English place name. If that’s already taken, they are forced to change, such as Dubai being changed to DXB (the X has no meaning).

3. Airport Code (Airport Code)

Following each city, each airport also has a three-letter uppercase airport code. Most city codes are the same as the airport codes, such as Beijing Capital International Airport’s code being PEK. But if there is more than one airport in the same city, the codes will change. For example, Tokyo’s city code is TYO, but Narita Airport’s code is NRT, and Haneda Airport’s code is HND. Taichung Qingquan Airport’s code, RCMQ, has developed into a four-digit code in recent years due to increased flights. The first digit is the regional code, R represents the Asia-Pacific region, the second digit is the country, and the third and fourth digits are the airport name. Canadian airports start with the letter “Y,” such as Vancouver / YVR. If a code used as a general regional code is already taken, it needs to be changed, such as Toronto Pearson Airport not being YTO but YYZ.

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