Airport Codes: The Meaning Behind the Strange Three-Letter Ones, Part II
The stories regarding this subject matter aren’t to be missed. Unlike my first article on strange airfield codes at Associated Content:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/28192/airport_codes_the_meaning_behind_the.html
I’ve included international air hubs, too, in this feature.
CMH: Port Columbus International Airport was on the first Transcontinental Air/Rail Service Route from New York to the West Coast. It opened in 1929, and its code is purported to stand for Columbus Municipal Hangar, but was named “Port Columbus” to go with the tag line “America’s Greatest Air Harbor”. In 1952, its new 8000 foot runway was touted as “the longest runway in the Midwest”. This venue currently offers free internet access for your laptops! How many air hubs can say that, given that most try to gauge every last dollar from captive travelers? Port Columbus’ site was selected with the assistance of Charles Lindbergh.
Going to FCO? Just don’t tell the CIA: When you think of Rome, Italy, and the FCO designation which most international travelers fly into, could it be that this place was named for the renowned Annette FuniCellO? Actually, no. The FCO comes from FiumiCinO in the official name: Rome Leonardo da Vinci FiumiCinO Airport. Fiumicino is a seaside town which the air hub is located in, roughly 20 miles southwest of Rome. If you happen to be heading to Rome, but have baggage tags with the CIA designation, don’t worry. You aren’t scheduled for any cloak and dagger adventures. Instead, you’ll just be going to Rome’s smaller international venue called CIAmpino Airport.
LPL and DSA: Too ordinary for John Lennon and Robin Hood???
Air hubs have been named for aviation pioneers or for famous legendary characters but you won’t necessarily see the three-letter designations changed on their behalf, even when it’s for the rock icon, John Lennon, whom the air hub in Liverpool is named for. It still keeps its “non-Imagine-like” LPL code for Liverpool. The air transport center that serves the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield, England, was named Robin Hood Airport. Sherwood Forest happens to be nearby, but it still retains the DSA code (the D and S in the code stand for those above mentioned cities). Ol’ Robin Hood and his merry men have yet to take the DSA code and give it to another commercial airfield.
GGG: The place that serves the Longview area in eastern Texas has the 3 G’s code for its designation. It was named for the county it resides in (GreGG), but was renamed East Texas Regional Airport in early 2002. It holds the distinction of being the first civilian airfield in Texas and the Southwest to have a 10,000-foot runway, completed in 1970.
NRT: Tokyo’s main international air hub is located in the Chiba Prefecture city of NaRiTa, Japan; and thus, the NRT designation. Yet until 2004, the official name didn’t even contain the name Narita in it. It had been called New Tokyo International Airport until April 2004, when upon privatization, the official name became Narita Airport, reflecting its popular designation since it’s been in service.
YIP-eee for DTW: Detroit’s major international venue happens to be in Wayne County, Michigan, which is why the letter “W” found its way into its three-letter code. This place has always included the name “Wayne” since its inception. DTW became the first inland commercial jetport in 1958. DTW totally replaced another venue for commercial air traffic by the mid-60’s. That particular place has an interesting name and three-letter code in itself. This former venue for Detroit-bound passengers is called Willow Run, named after Willow Run Creek, which is adjacent to the west side of the airfield. Willow Run’s three-letter designation is YIP, on behalf of the city it’s located in, Ypsilanti. Ypsilanti is right between Detroit and Ann Arbor. Willow Run still proudly functions today for sports team charters and freight services. YIP handled over 400 million pounds of cargo in 2005.
Why ask Y for Canada? Travelers flying to destinations in Canada must be stymied as to why the major Canadian venues like Montreal’s (YMX/YUL) or Vancouver’s (YVR) begin with a Y. In a nutshell, the letter Y was used to be the first letter designator for these gateways to “Oh, Canada”. American airfields basically got first dibs on all the more-appropriate first letters. Once you get past “Y”, then things make a little more sense from there, including those for Montreal and Vancouver as well as for the major air hubs for Edmonton (YEG), Winnipeg (YWG), and Ottawa (YOW). That is, until you get to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, whose code is YYZ. The obvious T belongs to Toronto’s other commercial airfield, Toronto City Centre Airport (YTZ).
POS: The main venue for the archipelago country of Trinidad and Tobago is called Piarco International Airport, located in the town of Piarco, Trinidad. So why then is the three-letter code POS? Well, the POS honors the capital city of this 23-island nation, Port Of Spain, which is roughly 15 miles from Piarco.
OGG: What does OGG have to do with the airfield on one of Hawaii’s most celebrated islands? Kahului Airport in Maui, Hawaii, has the three-letter code OGG to honor the late Capt. Bertram J. hOGG, an aviation pioneer and a Hawaiian native. Hogg made the first inter-island commercial flight after Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese only a few days after that day of infamy, and spent over forty years in the aviation industry flying primarily for Hawaiian Airlines.
From IDL to JFK to IDL reborn: John F. Kennedy International Airport is truly where the world meets, and anyone who’s ever tried to get around its nine terminals will testify that this activity is a journey in itself! But this is one place that’s had its share of distinctly different names and three-letter codes. It was built on the IDLewild Golf Course, so when it opened in 1948, it was referred to both as New York International Airport and Idlewild Airport, of which its IDL code came about. A month after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the name was changed to honor the fallen president. Unlike other air hubs which get a name change, the three-letter designation was also changed. The code became JFK. The IDL didn’t stay in retirement forever, as it’s the three-letter code for the airfield in InDianoLa, Mississippi.
