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What is the ICAO?

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) , is an agency of the United Nations which develops the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.

The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation.

What is the ICAO Airport Code?

The ICAO airport code is a four-letter alphanumeric code designating each airport around the world defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The ICAO codes are used by air traffic control and airline operations such as flight planning. They are not the same as the IATA codes encountered by the general public, which are used for airline timetables, reservations, and baggage handling. ICAO codes are also used to identify other locations such as:

• weather stations
• International Flight Service Stations
• Area Control Centers

whether or not they are located at airports.

Unlike the IATA codes, the ICAO codes have a regional structure, are not duplicated and is comprehensive. In general, the first letter is allocated by continent and represents a country or group of countries within that continent. The second letter generally represents a country within that region, and the remaining two are used to identify each airport. The exception to this rule are larger countries that have single-letter country codes, where the remaining three letters identify the airport.

You might have thought that the country deisgnator would be inline with the ISO stanadard (also a child of the United Nations), but they're not!

In the contiguous United States and Canada, most airports have been assigned three-letter IATA codes which are the same as their ICAO code without the leading K or C. e.g., YYC (Calgary International Airport, Calgary, Alberta) and CYYC, IAD (Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia) and KIAD. These codes are not to be confused with radio call signs, even though both countries use four-letter call signs starting with those letters.

However, because Alaska, Hawaii and other United States territories have their own 2-letter ICAO prefix, the situation there is similar to other smaller countries and the ICAO code of their airports is typically different from its corresponding 3-letter FAA/IATA identifier.