Metropolitan area airport codes

Metropolitan area airport codes

In addition to individual-airport codes, IATA, the FAA, and various booking engines have assigned "metropolitan area codes" which represent several airports serving a metropolitan area. Not every region served with multiple airports is assigned a location identifier, however, nor are all IATA-recognized facilities necessarily included; furthermore, the inclusion or exclusion of a facility may depend on the booking system.

For example, the IATA: NYC code, representing the New York City area, includes flights to John F. Kennedy International Airport IATA: JFK, Newark Liberty International Airport IATA: EWR and LaGuardia Airport IATA: LGA. In some systems, Westchester County Airport IATA: HPN is also included; however, IATA: ZYP (New York Penn Station), IATA: ISP (Islip Airport), and IATA: JRA (West 30th Street Heliport) are generally not.

Booking travel

Metropolitan area airport codes are handy for simplifying flight searches into or out of a region. Some booking engines which include airports based on distance from a point can be tricked into extending the search through use of the city code.

Extra caution is advised when booking connecting flights, however, as the inbound leg may arrive at a different airport from the outbound leg, necessitating a ground transfer that may be costly or time-consuming. In particular, many major cities channel most international flights through one airport and most domestic or short-haul flights into a different one.

Smaller domestic airports are more likely to be served by low cost airlines but that might also force you to re-check your luggage. Ask your airline if they allow interlining tickets — checking your luggage through to the final destination on multiple tickets.

List of airport area codes

This is not a listing of all airport codes; this is a list of those special codes that cover multiple airports.

Metropolitan areas are organised alphabetically, first by continent then by city. Many flight search engines may not recognise all these group codes when making queries.

Asia

Europe

North America

South America