Airport codes in air freight

Three systems, one airport

UN/LOCODE is the same register that identifies seaports — it covers airports, rail terminals and inland points too. See port codes for how it is structured.

Worth knowing

• The cargo airport is not always the passenger airport. Shanghai’s freight goes through Pudong (PVG), not Hongqiao. Tokyo’s goes through Narita (NRT), not Haneda. Some airports — Liège, Leipzig, East Midlands — are freight operations with almost no passengers.
• Codes outlive names. ORD is Chicago O’Hare, from Orchard Field. SDF is Louisville, from Standiford Field. SGN is Ho Chi Minh City, from Saigon.
• Some hubs are technical stops. Anchorage (ANC) handles enormous tonnage that never enters the American economy — it is a fuel stop on transpacific routes.

Airport codes by country

Countries A–Z, and IATA codes A–Z within each country. 96 entries.

Australia (AU)

Belgium (BE)

Brazil (BR)

Canada (CA)

Chile (CL)

China (CN)

Colombia (CO)

Denmark (DK)

Egypt (EG)

Ethiopia (ET)

France (FR)

Germany (DE)

Hong Kong (HK)

India (IN)

Indonesia (ID)

Ireland (IE)

Israel (IL)

Italy (IT)

Japan (JP)

Kenya (KE)

Luxembourg (LU)

Malaysia (MY)

Mexico (MX)

Netherlands (NL)

New Zealand (NZ)

Oman (OM)

Panama (PA)

Peru (PE)

Philippines (PH)

Poland (PL)

Qatar (QA)

Saudi Arabia (SA)

Singapore (SG)

South Africa (ZA)

South Korea (KR)

Spain (ES)

Sweden (SE)

Switzerland (CH)

Taiwan (TW)

Thailand (TH)

Türkiye (TR)

United Arab Emirates (AE)

United Kingdom (GB)

United States (US)

Vietnam (VN)

Questions

Which airport code does air freight use?

The IATA three-letter code. It appears on the air waybill, the booking and the tracking screen. The four-letter ICAO code is operational — flight plans and air traffic control — and rarely appears on commercial paperwork.

What is the difference between IATA and ICAO codes?

IATA codes are three letters and commercial; ICAO codes are four letters and operational, with a regional structure — most US airports begin with K, Canadian with C, and northern European with E. Toronto Pearson is YYZ to IATA and CYYZ to ICAO.

Do airports have UN/LOCODEs too?

Yes. UN/LOCODE covers seaports, airports, rail terminals and inland points in one register, and appears in customs filings and EDI messages. The same location can therefore carry an IATA code, an ICAO code and a UN/LOCODE at once.

Why do some codes not match the city name?

Codes outlive names. Chicago O’Hare is ORD from the site’s former name, Orchard Field. Louisville is SDF from Standiford Field. Ho Chi Minh City is SGN from Saigon.

Is this list complete?

No. There are thousands of IATA codes in use. This page lists a selection of airports significant in international air freight; IATA’s own directory is the authoritative source.

Provided for convenience and general information only.Figures, definitions and descriptions on these pages are compiled from publicly available sources — published industry standards, official code registers and carriers' own published specifications — and are nominal: actual equipment, regulations and commercial terms vary by manufacturer, carrier, jurisdiction and contract, and change over time. FrateZone is not the issuing authority for any of it, does not warrant that any figure here is correct, current or complete, and makes no representation that a source has not changed since it was read. Where a specification belongs to a specific physical unit or a specific contract — a container's certified plate, an airline's tariff, the wording of your own sale agreement — that document governs, not this page. FrateZone accepts no liability for any error or omission here, nor for any operational, commercial, financial or legal decision taken in reliance on it. Verify against the authoritative source before you act.