Airport Codes Explained: Tips for the IATA Code Quiz
Every major airport has a three-letter IATA code on its baggage tags. Some are obvious, some look random. Knowing why they exist makes the quiz much easier.
The common patterns
- The city name. Many codes are the first letters of the city: AMS for Amsterdam, ATH for Athens, MAD for Madrid, DEL for Delhi.
- Consonants. Names are sometimes squeezed: SYD for Sydney, HKG for Hong Kong, BKK for Bangkok.
- The airport name rather than the city: JFK for John F. Kennedy in New York, LHR for Heathrow, CDG for Charles de Gaulle in Paris.
The quirks that catch people out
- ORD (Chicago O'Hare) comes from Orchard Field, the airport's earlier name.
- MCO (Orlando) comes from McCoy Air Force Base, which became the airport.
- Canadian codes often start with Y: YYZ for Toronto, YVR for Vancouver, YUL for Montreal. The letter Y was historically linked to Canadian weather stations.
- LAX was once just LA. When codes grew to three letters an X was added as filler.
- PEK (Beijing) uses the old spelling Peking.
- CGK (Jakarta) comes from Cengkareng, the area where the airport sits.
Strategies for guessing
- Start with the first letter of the city. On the Easy level the code always starts with the city's first letter, and the game tells you which letter.
- Use the colour clues. Green means the right letter in the right place, yellow means the letter is in the code elsewhere, grey means it is not.
- Spend your first guess on a letter-rich guess using common letters, then refine.
- Remember that big cities with several airports (London, New York, Tokyo) use a code for each airport, so think about the best known one.
Difficulty
Easy gives four tries and the first letter. Medium gives three tries. Hard gives two tries, hides the country, and only uses airports whose code does not start with the city's first letter, such as ORD, PEK and CGK.
Why do IATA codes matter?
The three-letter code is what appears on your boarding pass and luggage tag, so learning the main ones makes travel less confusing. It is different from the four-letter ICAO code that pilots and air traffic control use.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between IATA and ICAO codes?
IATA codes have three letters and are used by passengers and airlines. ICAO codes have four letters and are used by air traffic control and pilots.
Can an answer have repeated letters?
Yes, for example "MMM" is allowed as a guess. The colour clues handle repeats the same way the word game Wordle does.
Keep learning
Related guides: Plane Spotter, Capital Hunt, Longer Flight. Or browse all game guides and the country pages.