When it comes to flying, the skies are full of abbreviations. From your terminals to your tickets, you'll see a three-letter abbreviation for your airport created by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). So that you'll know exactly where you are going, check out the abbreviations for the 40 major airports in the U.S. plus 40 major airport hubs in Europe.
Top 40 Major Airport Hubs in the United States
Airports get a lot of traffic in the U.S. It really is one of the quickest ways to get around. However, a few major airports get more traffic than the rest. While they can be found all over the U.S., you’ll find several high traffic airports in Texas and California. Examine the 40 major airports in the USA sorted alphabetically by their IATA airport code.
- ATL - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport - Georgia
- AUS - Austin-Bergstrom International Airport - Texas
- BNA - Nashville International Airport - Tennessee
- BOS - Boston Logan International Airport - Massachusetts
- BWI - Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport - Washington
- CLT - Charlotte Douglas International Airport - North Carolina
- DAL - Dallas Love Field - Texas
- DCA - Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport - Arlington, Virginia
- DEN - Denver International Airport - Colorado
- DFW - Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport - Texas
- DTW - Detroit Metropolitan Airport - Michigan
- EWR - Newark Liberty International Airport - New Jersey
- FLL - Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport - Florida
- HNL - Daniel K. Inouye International Airport - Honolulu, Hawaii
- HOU - William P. Hobby Airport - Houston, Texas
- IAD - Dulles International Airport - Virginia
- IAH - George Bush Intercontinental Airport - Houston, Texas
- JFK - John F. Kennedy International Airport - Queens, New York
- LAS - McCarran International Airport - Las Vegas, Nevada
- LAX - Los Angeles International Airport - California
- LGA - LaGuardia Airport - Queens, New York
- MCO - Orlando International Airport - Florida
- MDW - Chicago Midway International Airport - Illinois
- MIA - Miami International Airport - Florida
- MSP - Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport - Minnesota
- MSY - Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport - Louisiana
- OAK - Oakland International Airport - California
- ORD - O'Hare International Airport - Chicago, Illinois
- PDX - Portland International Airport - Oregon
- PHL - Philadelphia International Airport - Pennsylvania
- PHX - Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport - Arizona
- RDU - Raleigh-Durham International Airport - North Carolina
- SAN - San Diego International Airport - California
- SEA - Seattle–Tacoma International Airport - Washington
- SFO - San Francisco International Airport - California
- SJC - Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport - California
- SLC - Salt Lake City International Airport - Utah
- SMF - Sacramento International Airport - California
- STL - St. Louis Lambert International Airport - Missouri
- TPA - Tampa International Airport - Florida
40 Major European Airport Abbreviations
People love to travel internationally. That means that while you might be leaving from SAN, you could be arriving in FRA. Knowing exactly what the airport FRA is can make sure that your travel arrangements are correct. Since there are some major European airports where most travelers fly, knowing these airport abbreviations can be helpful.
Review the 40 major European airport codes that international travelers might encounter on their journeys.
- AGP - Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport - Spain
- ALC - Alicante-Elche Airport - Spain
- AMS - Amsterdam Airport Schiphol - Netherlands
- ARN - Stockholm Arlanda Airport - Sweden
- ATH - Athens International Airport - Greece
- BCN - Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport - Spain
- BRU - Brussels Airport - Belgium
- BUD - Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport - Budapest
- CDG - Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport - France
- CPH - Copenhagen Airport - Sweden
- DME - Moscow Domodedovo International Airport - Moscow
- DUB - Dublin Airport - Ireland
- DUS - Duesseldorf Airport - Germany
- FCO - Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport - Rome, Italy
- FRA - Frankfurt am Main Airport - Germany
- GVA - Geneva Airport - Switzerland
- HAM - Hamburg Airport - Germany
- HEL - Helsinki Airport - Finland
- ISL - Istanbul Airport - Turkey
- KBP - Kyiv Boryspil International Airport - Ukraine
- LED - Pulkovo Airport - St. Petersburg, Russia
- LGW - London Gatwick Airport - United Kingdom
- LHR - London Heathrow Airport - United Kingdom
- LIS - Humberto Delgado Airport - Lisbon, Portugal
- LTN - London Luton Airport - United Kingdom
- MAD - Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport - Spain
- MAN - Manchester Airport - United Kingdom
- MUC - Munich Airport - Germany
- MXP - Milan Malpensa Airport - Italy
- ORY - Orly Airport - France
- OSL - Oslo Airport - Norway
- PMI - Palma de Mallorca Airport - Spain
- PRG - Václav Havel Airport Prague - Czechia
- STN - London Stansted Airport - United Kingdom
- SVO - Sheremetyevo Alexander S. Pushkin International Airport - Moscow, Russia
- TXL - Berlin Tegel Airport - Germany
- VIE - Vienna International Airport - Austria
- VKO - Vnukovo International Airport - Moscow, Russia
- WAW - Warsaw Chopin Airport - Poland
- ZRH - Zurich Airport - Switzerland
Why Use Airport Abbreviations?
Abbreviations and acronyms just make life easier. Having to write out the full airport names on tickets and within paperwork would not only be tedious but also take up a lot of space. Therefore, organizations like IATA work to create standardized airport codes.
Each airport code is unique to that airport to ensure flight mistakes are avoided. Could you imagine the issues that having identical airport abbreviations could create? It would be madness.
The Importance of Airport Abbreviations
Airport codes are not only convenient for printing and paperwork purposes, but they ensure that each individual airport has a unique identifier. This ensures that you end up in San Francisco rather than San Diego. Now that you’ve looked at airport abbreviations, you might want to look at some examples of acronyms. Did you know LASER is an acronym?