Why in News?

• The upcoming Noida International Airport (NIA) in Jewar was awarded its own unique international three-letter code, ‘DXN’, by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About Airport Codes (Meaning, How it is Determined & Assigned)
• About IATA & ICAO
• News Summary

About Airport Codes:

• Airport codes are unique identifiers assigned to each airport.
• Airport coding first began in the 1930s, in the very early days of commercial aviation.
• At the time, airlines and pilots typically chose their own two letter codes to identify destinations.
• However, by the 1940s, as the number of airports grew exponentially, a system of three letter codes was devised (allowing for a far higher number of combinations) and eventually standardised in the 1960s by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
• At present, each airport has two unique codes:
  • One code is assigned by the IATA,
  • The other is assigned by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
• Both are used to accurately identify airports, but in different contexts.
• IATA Code:
  • The three-digit codes assigned by the IATA are used for passenger facing operations — on tickets, boarding passes, signages, etc.
  • For example, the newly built Jewar airport has been assigned ‘DXN’ code.
• ICAO Code:
  • The four-digit codes assigned by the ICAO, on the other hand, are used by industry professionals such as pilots, air traffic controllers, planners, etc.
  • For example, for the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, the IATA code is DEL whereas the ICAO code is VIDP.

How Does IATA Assign Airport Codes?

• Following three factors determine how airports get their codes:
  • How the airport wishes to identify itself:
    • Airport authorities indulge in lobbying to receive a code that is meaningful in some way.
    • City names, airport names, and location names are some common bases for codes.
  • Availability of the said code:
    • The codes are meaningful only because they are unique.
    • This means that no two airports can have the same IATA codes.
    • This is one of the reasons why the Ranchi airport is not RAN (already taken by Ravenna, Italy).
  • Certain common conventions, which depend on the country:
    • The other reason why the Ranchi airport is IXR is due to a convention followed in India where military airports extended for civilian traffic are assigned codes beginning with ‘IX’.
    • For instance, Agartala’s airport is IXA, Chandigarh’s airport is IXC, and Leh airport is IXL.
• The codes are published twice each year in the IATA Airline Coding Directory.

About International Air Transport Association (IATA):

• IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945.
• Objective: To support airline activity and helps formulate industry policy and standards.
• It sets technical standards for airlines across the world.
• Currently, IATA represents some 300 airlines comprising 94% of the international scheduled air traffic.
• IATA members include the world’s leading passenger and cargo airlines.
• Headquarters: Montreal, Canada

About International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO):

• ICAO is an intergovernmental specialized agency associated with the United Nations (UN).
• It was established in 1947 bythe Convention on International Civil Aviation (1944) known as Chicago Convention.
• Headquarters: Montreal, Canada
• Functions of ICAO:
• ICAO is dedicated to developing safe and efficient international air transport for peaceful purposes and ensuring a reasonable opportunity for every state to operate international airlines. 
• It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security and economic development of air transport as well as to improve the environmental performance of aviation. 
• It also serves as a clearing house for cooperation and discussion on civil aviation issues among its 193 member states.
• It also promotes regional and international agreements aimed at liberalizing aviation markets.
• It helps to establish legal standards to ensure that the growth of aviation and encourages the development of other aspects of international aviation law.

News Summary:

• The upcoming Noida International Airport (NIA) in Jewar was awarded its own unique international three-letter code, ‘DXN’, by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
  • ‘DXN' symbolises the airport's proximity to Noida, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh.
• The code, which will become active once airport operations start, will help travellers and aviation professionals to identify and communicate destinations swiftly and accurately, avoiding any confusion and mistakes.
• Right now, construction work is underway for the first phase of the airport.
• The first phase is scheduled to be completed with one runway and a 12 million passenger capacity terminal building by September 2024.