International Civil Aviation Organization

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an agency of the United Nations, codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.

The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation. Assad Kotaite has served as President of the ICAO Council since 1976, but will retire from that post in August, 2006.

In addition, the ICAO defines the protocols for air accident investigation followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, commonly known as the Chicago Convention. See NTSB, TSB, AAIB, BFU, and BEA.

Its headquarters are located in the Quartier International of Montreal, Canada.

The ICAO should not be confused with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade organization for airlines also headquartered in Montreal.

ICAO Codes

Both ICAO and IATA have their own airport and airline code systems. ICAO uses 4-letter airport codes, and 3-letter airline codes. IATA is scheduled to eventually switch its codes to the ICAO standard.

ICAO is also responsible for issuing alphanumeric aircraft type codes that contain 3 or 4 characters. These codes provide the identification that is typically used in flight plans. An example of this is the Boeing 747 that would use (depending on the variant) B741, B742 ,B743, etc.

ICAO provides telephony designators to aircraft operators worldwide. These consist of the three letter airline identifer and a one or two word designator. They are usually, but not always, similar to the aircraft operator name. Thus the identifer for Aer Lingus is EIN and the designator is Shamrock while Japan Airlines International is JAL and Japan Air . So a flight by Aer Lingus numbered 111 would be written as "EIN111" and pronounced "Shamrock 111" on the radio, while a similarly numbered Japan Airlines flight would be written as "JAL111" and "Japan Air 111".

ICAO Aircraft Registration Prefixes are used to identify the place where the aircraft registers at. For example, B-H is identified as Hong Kong, then we can know that B-HKE is a plane which is registered at Hong Kong. Take another example, D is known as Germany, therefore D-AILS is a plane which is registered at Germany.

ICAO Aircraft Registration Prefixes List

Registration Prefix	Country
A2-	Botswana
A3-	Tonga
A40-	Oman
A5-	Bhutan
A6-	United Arab Emirates
A7-	Qatar
A9C-	Bahrain
AP-	Pakistan
B-	China
B-	Taiwan
B-H, B-K, B-L	Hong Kong, China
B-M	Macau
C-	Canada
C2-	Naura
C3-	Andorra
C5-	The Gambia
C6-	Bahamas
C9-	Mozambique
CC-	Chile
CN-	Morocco
CP-	Bolivia
CS-	Portugal
CU-	Cuba
CX	Christmas Islands
CX-	Uruguay
D-	Germany
D2-	Angola
D4-	Cape Verde Islands
D6-	Comores
DQ-	Fiji
E3-	Eritrea
E5-	Cook Islands
EC-	Spain
EI-	Ireland
EK-	Armenia
EL-	Liberia
EP-	Iran
ER-	Moldova, Rep. of
ES-	Estonia
ET-	Ethiopia
EW-	Belarus
EX-	Kyrgyzstan
EY-	Tajikistan
EZ-	Turkmenistan
F-	France
F-O	Reunion Island
F-OD	New Caledonia
F-OG	Martinique
F-OG	Guadeloupe
F-OH	Tahiti
G-	United Kingdom
GL-	Greenland
H4-	Solomon Islands
HA-	Hungary
HB-	Switzerland
HC-	Ecuador
HH-	Haiti
HI-	Dominican Republic
HK-	Colombia
HL	Korea, Rep. of
HP-	Panama
HR-	Honduras
HS-	Thailand
HV-	Vatican City
HZ-	Saudi Arabia
I-	Italy
J2-	Djibouti
J3-	Grenada
J5-	Guinea Bissau
J6-	St. Lucia
J7-	Dominica
J8-	St. Vincent and Grenadines
JA	Japan
JY-	Jordan
K-S	Finland
LN-	Norway
LQ-	Argentina (Government)
LV-	Argentina
LX-	Luxembourg
LY-	Lithuania
LZ-	Bulgaria
MT-	Mongolia
N	United States of America
OB-	Peru
OD-	Lebanon
OE-	Austria
OH-	Finland
OK-	Czech Republic
OM-	Slovakia
OO-	Belgium
OY-	Denmark
P-	Korea, Dem. People's Rep. of
P2-	Papua New Guinea
P4-	Aruba
PH-	Netherlands
PJ-	Netherlands Antilles
PK-	Indonesia
PP-	Brazil
PR-	Brazil
PT-	Brazil
PZ-	Suriname
RA-	Russian Federation
RDPL-	Laos
RP-	Philippines
S2-	Bangladesh
S3-	Bangladesh
S5-	Slovenia
S7-	Seychelles
S9-	Sao Tome and Principe
SE-	Sweden
SP-	Poland
ST-	Sudan
SU-	Egypt
SX-	Greece
T3-	Kiribati
T7-	San Marino
T9-	Bosnia Hercegovina
TC-	Turkey
TF-	Iceland
TG-	Guatemala
TI-	Costa Rica
TJ-	Cameroon
TL-	Central African Republic
TN-	Congo
TR-	Gabon
TS-	Tunisia
TT-	Chad
TU-	Cote D'Ivoire
TY-	Benin
TZ-	Mali
UK-	Uzbekistan
UN-	Kazakhstan
UR-	Ukraine
V2-	Antigua
V3-	Belize
V4-	St. Kitts and Nevis
V5-	Namibia
V7-	Marshall Islands
V8-	Brunei
VH-	Australia
VN-	Vietnam
VP-B	Bermuda
VP-C	Caymen Islands
VP-F	Falkland Islands
VP-LMA-LUZ	Montserrat
VP-LV	British Virgin Islands
VQ-H	St. Helena
VQ-T	Turks and Caicos Islands
VT-	India
XA-	Mexico
XB-	Mexico
XC-	Mexico
XT-	Burkina Faso
XU-	Kampuchea
XY-	Myanmar
XZ-	Myanmar
YA-	Afghanistan
YI-	Iraq
YJ-	Vanuatu
YK-	Syria
YL-	Latvia
YN-	Nicaragua
YR-	Romania
YS-	El Salvador
YU-	Yugoslavia
YV-	Venezuela
Z-	Zimbabwe
Z3-	Macedonia
ZA-	Albania
ZK-	New Zealand
ZL-	New Zealand
ZP-	Paraguay
ZS-	South Africa
ZT-	South Africa
ZU-	South Africa
3A-	Monaco
3B-	Mauritius
3C-	Equatorial Guinea
3D-	Swaziland
3X-	Guinea
4K-	Azerbaijan
4L-	Georgia
4R-	Sri Lanka
4X-	Israel
5A-	Libya
5B-	Cyprus
5H-	Tanzania
5N-	Nigeria
5R-	Madagascar
5T-	Mauritania
5U-	Niger
5V-	Togo
5W-	Samoa
5X-	Uganda
5Y-	Kenya
6O-	Somalia
6V-	Senegal
6W-	Senegal
6Y-	Jamaica
7O-	Yemen
7P-	Lesotho
7Q-	Malawi
7T-	Algeria
8P-	Barbados
8Q-	Maldives
8R-	Guyana
9A-	Croatia
9G-	Ghana
9H-	Malta
9J-	Zambia
9K-	Kuwait
9L-	Sierra Leone
9M-	Malaysia
9N-	Nepal
9Q-	Zaire
9U-	Burundi
9V-	Singapore
9XR-	Rwanda
9Y-	Trinidad and Tobago

ICAO statute

The 8th edition of the Convention on International Civil Aviation includes modifications from 1948 up to year 2000. The ICAO refers to its current edition of the convention the statute, and designates it as ICAO Doc 7300/8.

The convention has 18 annexes:

Annex 1 - Personnel Licensing
Annex 2 - Rules of the Air
Annex 3 - Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation
Annex 4 - Aeronautical Charts
Annex 5 - Units of Measurement to be Used in Air and Ground Operations
Annex 6 - Operation of Aircraft - Aeroplanes
Annex 7 - Aircraft Nationality and Registration Marks
Annex 8 - Airworthiness of Aircraft
Annex 9 - Facilitation
Annex 10 - Aeronautical Telecommunications - Digital Data Communication Systems
Annex 11 - Air Traffic Services
Annex 12 - Search and Rescue
Annex 13 - Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation
Annex 14 - Aerodromes - Aerodrome Design and Operations, Heliports
Annex 15 - Aeronautical Information Services
Annex 16 - Environmental Protection - Aircraft Noise
Annex 17 - Security: Safeguarding International Civil Aviation Against Acts of Unlawful Interference
Annex 18 - The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air

ICAO standards

The ICAO also standardizes certain functions for use in the airline industry, such as the Aeronautical Message Handling System AMHS; this probably makes it a standards organization.

Regions and regional offices

The ICAO has seven regional offices serving nine regions:

1. Asia and Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand

2. Middle East, Cairo, Egypt

3. Western and Central Africa, Dakar, Senegal

4. South America, Lima, Peru

5. North America, Central America and Caribbean, Mexico City, Mexico

6. Eastern and Southern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

7. Europe and North Atlantic, Paris, France

External links

International Civil Aviation Organization website
ICAO airport code prefixes (not to be confused with the IATA location identifiers)
ICAO Aircraft listing with codes

Aviation authorities | Montreal | United Nations specialized agencies