RyanairGuru wrote:

it is the FAA identifier with a K in front

Except, it must be noted, that the K is the ICAO prefix for the contiguous United States only.

There is also the P code range to consider:
PA USA (Alaska) (also PF, PO and PP)
PB USA (Baker Island)
PC Kiribati (Canton Airfield, Phoenix Islands)
PF USA (Alaska) (also PA, PO and PP)
PG USA (Guam, Northern Mariana Islands)
PH USA (Hawaii)
PJ USA (Johnston Atoll)
PK Marshall Islands
PL Kiribati (Line Islands)
PM USA (Midway Island)
PO USA (Alaska) (also PA, PF and PP)
PP USA (Alaska) (also PA, PF and PO)
PT Federated States of Micronesia, Palau
PW USA (Wake Island)

Doesn't stop people dropping KHNL into posts though, or even (one time that I saw) KPHNL, but it means that all ICAO codes for these areas cannot match the prefix+IATA/FAA general equivalency unless the second letter of the ICAO prefix is the first letter of the IATA or FAA code... so Kahului, for example, has OGG as its FAA and IATA codes but is ICAO coded PHOG.

NozPerry wrote:

I find that KEF being used for Reykjavik Keflavik not Kefalonia (EFL) to be a strange one

I feel like KEF should just be called Iceland International Airport. 99%+ of international visitors to Iceland who arrive by air come through KEF and people come to visit the whole island, not Reykjavík (or Keflavík) in particular.

I wonder if the IATA code ICE is available? Nothing shows up for it on gcmap.com.

The airports around my place (Malaysia) are all quite logically name except Kota Kinabalu which somehow got stuck with BKI and Miri with MYY. I still sometimes confuse London Gatwick and Langkawi with LGW and LGK respectively.

Why is Shanghai Pudong PVG? Where did the "V" come from?

benbeny wrote:

What confuses me is O'Hare, ORD. Why ORD? I always mistook it as Orlando, which is MCO.

I have always wondered this too, but a quick Google search provided the answer. Apparently there was community just west of Chicago called Orchard Place. During WWII, it became the site of a military (and later, commercial) airport called Orchard Field, which, in 1949 following the end of hostilities, was renamed in honour of WW II ace Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare. However, the original "Orchard" code designation of ORD was not changed, so it persists to this day.

This site http://www.skygod.com/asstd/abc.html provides some good explanations for the weird airport codes.

lugie wrote:

I'm kind of fascinated by how many big cities served by several airports don't have a single one that references the city's actual name in its IATA code. Sure, most of them do make sense or those that didn't have been explained already but it still seems interesting to me:

Stockholm: ARN, BMA, (NYO)
Berlin: TXL, SXF
Rome: FCO, CIA
Paris: CDG, ORY, (BVA)
Moscow: VKO, DME, SVO
Tokyo: HND, NRT
Sao Paulo: GRU, CGH, VCP
Chicago: ORD, MDW
New York: JFK, EWR, LGA, (SWF, ISP, HPN)

One more to add:
Rio de Janeiro: GIG, SDU

By the way, I have no idea why Rio's international airport (Galeao) has such IATA code. Galeao International ... G?

Some of them make sense but are still strange...
Fukuoka, 4th busiest in Japan: FUK
Pocos de caldas - POO
Fagurholsmyri - FAG
Arrachart - DIE (city nearby was called Diego-Suárez before)
Antonio Jose De Sucre - CUM (serves the city of Cumaná)

At least no ASS or TIT.

danvs wrote:

One more to add:
Rio de Janeiro: GIG, SDU

By the way, I have no idea why Rio's international airport (Galeao) has such IATA code. Galeao International ... G?

The second G might stand for Guanabara bay. Galeão is located on an island within this bay.
Also the three neighborhoods closest to GIG on the island are called Galeão, Itacolomi and Jardim Guanabara.

USA for Concord, NC, just outside of Charlotte. Their ICAO/FAA code is KJQF/JQF but their IATA code is USA.

lugie wrote:

danvs wrote:

One more to add:
Rio de Janeiro: GIG, SDU

By the way, I have no idea why Rio's international airport (Galeao) has such IATA code. Galeao International ... G?

The second G might stand for Guanabara bay. Galeão is located on an island within this bay.
Also the three neighborhoods closest to GIG on the island are called Galeão, Itacolomi and Jardim Guanabara.

GIG stands for Governador Island(the island where it is located)'s Galeão.

USM for Koh Samui

rbretas wrote:

Some of them make sense but are still strange...
Fukuoka, 4th busiest in Japan: FUK
Pocos de caldas - POO
Fagurholsmyri - FAG
Arrachart - DIE (city nearby was called Diego-Suárez before)
Antonio Jose De Sucre - CUM (serves the city of Cumaná)

At least no ASS or TIT.

I can imagine the travel agents face if someone ever asked for the itinerary:

FUK-FAG-CUM-POO-DIE

Breathe wrote:

rbretas wrote:

Some of them make sense but are still strange...
Fukuoka, 4th busiest in Japan: FUK
Pocos de caldas - POO
Fagurholsmyri - FAG
Arrachart - DIE (city nearby was called Diego-Suárez before)
Antonio Jose De Sucre - CUM (serves the city of Cumaná)

At least no ASS or TIT.

I can imagine the travel agents face if someone ever asked for the itinerary:

FUK-FAG-CUM-POO-DIE

They might route you to

UGH-WAT-KNT instead

CNY makes sense when you consider that the airport's name is Canyonlands Field, but it certainly wasn't the first thing that came to mind when I flew to Moab, Utah for the first time.