Gaya International Airport has been unsuccessful in changing its GAY airport code.
India’s civil aviation ministry rejected the request even though it’s been deemed “offensive” by Bharatiya Janata Party politicians. According to the government, IATA codes can only be changed for safety reasons, but that is not true. While IATA codes are generally meant to be permanent,
- Baltimore went from BAL to BWI and New York Idlewild went from IDL to JFK!
- Under Saddam Hussein, Baghdad International Airport used Saddam’s name and code SDA After the 2003 U.S. occupation, this was changed to BGW.
Gaya is considered a sacred city, and a pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Buddhists. Gautama Buddha obtained enlightenment nearby. But just wait until they BJP politicians learn the 3-letter airport code for Kochin International Airport in Kerala, India…
Credit: Rashid_Jorvee via Wikimedia Commons
Meanwhle, “LGBTQ rights activists argue that the call to change the airport code is a symptom of homophobia.”
Enilria points out,
Fukuoka (FUK) attempted to change to FUN in 2019 and failed. Interestingly, the GAY airport opened in 2002. Prior to it being assigned, the GAY code was unused. In 1998 and 2002 Sioux City (SUX) attempted to change their own airport code, also because politicians (the Mayor of Sioux City) thought the IATA code was uncomfortable and embarrassing.
Indeed, Sioux City was actually offered the GAY code before Gaya, but declined the honor. Better to just lean into it, Fly SUX!
- Airport codes beginning with N are reserved for naval air stations
- Codes beginning with W and K are reserved to avoid confusion with radio stations which is why MCI – Kansas City International – isn’t KCI (but local media refers to it frequently as KCI)
- Some airports kept National Weather Service codes when moving to 3 letter codes, and added an X (PDX, LAX, PHX)
- Two airports within the same region cannot have the same first and second, or second and third letters. The idea is to avoid confusion between DCA and IAD, IAH and HOU, DFW and DAL, etc.
- The FAA has 3 letter codes that are usually the same as IATA codes, but in the case of Phpenix Mesa Gateway the IATA code is AZA but that’s not what the FAA uses. The FAA code, used for general aviation, is IWA.
While it’s difficult to change an airport code, not only complying with the rules above but also making sure the code isn’t taken, it’s something that’s certainly been done.
However when Fresno Air Terminal (FAT) changed its name to Fresno Yosemite International, to market the airport as a gateway to Yosemite National Park, they were unsuccessful in getting their code changed to FYI. They can call themselves FYI if they wish, of course, even if it’s not used officially.
Denver (DEN) isn’t DIA, but local media refers to it as DIA. Why on earth I sometimes see Orlando news media referring to MCO as ‘OIA’ though I do not understand.
I’ve always been amused by airport codes, possibly because I lived in Fresno (FAT) for a time. I always wanted to ticket an itinerary from Fresno, California to Fukuoka, Japan. Or from Fresno to Pensacola, Florida.
Ain’t too bad… Fukuoka’s still got the best one: FUK.
Yes, Gary, someday… nonstop, FAT-FUK!
“Gay” means happy. It’s sad that this word has come to be associated with a concept that is problematic to some people. My religion forbids what it stands for today, but I don’t have an issue with an airport having this code which has absolutely nothing to do with the word’s alternative meaning.
@1990 – Sioux City, Iowa would beg to differ.
@Denver Refugee — Yup, Sioux City, IA, to Dickinson, ND… SUX-DIK.
I thought you’d be up-in-arms over the DIA vs. DEN discourse in the post!
COK represent!
Yeah BJP politicians can go themselves.
Unfortunately, all of our Canadian codes begin with Y. Not a lot of words do, however.
@1990 – Nah. I have too many other things to be indignant about these days, although I could argue that DEN is the city, DIA is the airport and which abbreviation is used depends on the circumstances.
@IsaacM — So, Allen Army Airfield to Kochi, BIG-COK.
People are so stupid.
@IsaacM — Or, if traveling from Lille-Lesquin Airport… LIL-COK.
@1990 that routing sound like it’s gonna be a painful ride.
@Parker — Which one, FAT-FUK, SUX-DIK, BIG-COK, or LIK-COK? Back-to-back does sound a bit brutal. Like, probably several redeyes…
*LIL, but, then again, Likiep, Marshall Islands to Kochi, LIK-COK, makes sense, too; though, that leg should probably go first. Like, start with LIK-COK, then SUX-DIK, and BIG-COK; finish with FAT-FUK. Nice itinerary.
Ha-haa! Classics all around, well done! Keep ’em coming
Id say to satisfy the ongoing SFO OAK trademark dispute…..SFO should take the GAY airport code……Im all for it! Afterall, one of our terminals is named for Harvey Milk…..
Kidding aside…this is pure grandstanding and making something that it isnt…..Gaya and the surrounding region isnt judged by the airport code…..get over it….its sacred and the airport GAY will not change or infringe on that.
I’m surprised Gaya and Kochin aren’t served directly.
If you believe as I do, like Terump, it’s not if it’s right/wrong Left/right… as long as it gets eyeballs. Like this post. Oh yeah, I met Terump, I don’t like him as a human being. But many of his tactics work- they get eyeballs to watch, just like Gary is doing.
So what. If they’re gay they’re gay. No need to do pearl clutching.
@L737 — Did you mean keep ’em CUM-ing, as in, Antonio Jose de Sucre airport in Venezuela, or did you mean KUM-ing, as in, Yakushima Airport, Japan?
@Christian — Well said, love who and how you love.
I mean… LUV… which is Karel Sadsuitubun Airport in Indonesia. @Jack the Ladd, have you been?
Not to be confused with, DAL, Dallas Love Field, which some do refer to as ‘LUV’ but it’s not IATA.
@1990 all good inspirations. Next time I’m in COK I’ll try to see what’s the funniest route I can book from there.
I flew COK-DOH last week but doesn’t really have a ring to it.
@Jon Biedermann — What?! Do you mean to say that Gary’s post above isn’t a serious topic? How dare… I can’t believe… why I never… now, I’m PIS-sed. As in, Poitiers-Biard Airport, France.
@IsaacM — So… you’re telling us… your COK… doesn’t have… a ring… All good. We don’t discriminate on here. Pick whichever airports you want and need. All airports are good airports here. COK, too!
@1990
LOL. Sadly I’m back to my routine of shuttling between MSP and ATL on your favorite airline and paying a premium for the privilege.
This plane is extra hot today out of ATL. They promise it’ll get better when it hits 10,000 feet. We’ll see. The air conditioning so far has been anything but premium.
By the way as some of y’all suggested I switched to Hyatt from this trip. Got Explorist on a promotion and just needs ten nights in the next 90 days to keep it. If I not it enough I might stick with this.
Planning to stay at the Grand Hyatt at COK in December so I’m looking forward to it.
My flight attendant wife still doesn’t understand my chuckle when she flies between Pensacola and Charlotte…
@1990 — BAH! (As in Bahrain International)
@IsaacM — Oh no! Much less ‘fun.’ Hope you’re cooling down by now. If it’s DL1026, I see it’s at 33,000 feet, and it’s expected early! *fingers crossed* (and ideally that ‘free WiFi’ for SkyMiles members on the 739 is working!)
Were you doing the status match AA-Hyatt? That’s a great one. I’m Platinum Pro with AA, and I saw that Hyatt’s matching to Globalist, just need to time it right, because 20-nights to keep it is a lot. Perhaps the 10 nights is actually more do-able. Hope it goes well!
And wow, that Grand Hyatt is in a great spot. Right on the river! I’ve wanted to visit Kerala for a while now. Will keep that place in mind!
@L737 — Oh, that’s… that’s my new favorite. BAH!
@Bill — PNS-CLT… “Oh no, Mr. Bill!”
India’s civil aviation ministry is run by the BJP.
Perhaps this decision is a sign of the BJP’s growing hatred of English as a national language in India: “Why worry about one possible meaning of the word gay when the idea is to get rid of English in the country as much as possible?!?!”
@1990 DL1280. The Wi-Fi surely is working on the A321. It’s cooler now but the AC isn’t still working as well as the Wi-Fi.
Nowadays I can’t do a flight without Wi-Fi. ORD to DOH was delightful with fast free WiFi. On the way back DOH – PHL was less delightful on American Airlines metal without free Wi-Fi. I was tempted to pay $35 but I figured I’ll be sleeping quite a bit so decided against paying for it.
With Hyatt, I took a promotion with the work Egencia. And yes 20 nights will get me globalist. But I’ve been sneaky and trying to do 2 night trips instead of 3 night trips and getting away with it, so we’ll see if I make it to 20.
My brother has stayed at that Grand Hyatt and recommends it a lot.
@IsaacM — Ah, glad it’s working! QR does have impressive WiFi, especially when many of their long-haul routes are over BIG oceans. Nice match/promotion (interesting that Amex/Egencia is running that, too).
@GUWonder — Not to get too in-the-weeds here, but speaking of BJP, is Modi really pushing to officially change the name of ‘India’ to ‘Bharat,’ even in English? I get that in Sanskrit, it is ‘Bharat,’ but for English-speakers, most know the country/sub-continent as ‘India.’ Like, I recall during the G20 in 2023, there was a mini-scandal over this. Feels very… Erdogan’s ‘Turkey-to-Türkiye,’ to me.
@1990
On a roll with your airport code humor.
With a three letter mandate, Salt Lake, Utah doesn’t have to worry.
It is a sign of homophobia. The best part of this article is being a dictator and having your main airport code changed to your name. That is so badass.
@Coffee Please — COF is Patrick Air Force Base is Cocoa Beach, Florida. Yes, I’ll admit, I had to Safari, Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Mozilla that one.
@IsaacM — Be glad you aren’t flying United tonight because they’re having a widespread technology outage… where’s @MaxPower to weigh in?
Must be a lot of snorting going on at Cuyahoga County Airport.
Same goes for South Caicos Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Got another one: Governor’s Harbour Airpor.
This one, you swallow. 😉
When did the word GAY become a derogatory word?
If the word Fag is, but Gay is not. We had the Gay Libertarian movement
GLBT = Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender …. Original
Greetings again 1990.
The “Bharat” thing wasn’t really about trying to marginalize English in India, but more about a distaste for the country being known as India or Hindustan because “Muslim……” and “Christian…..”. [Not enough Indian Jews left to be that much of a focus for India’s Nazi-inspired RSS types, although they will eventually go after India’s remaining Jewish community’s presence too.]
Now there is a building effort well beyond the “Bharat” thing to try to marginalize English as a national language in India. It’s early stages, but it’s in the works with the RSS “thinkers”.
This threat is on fire!
@1990 there’s two of those four routes I’m happy to two. The other two, not so much. The two…ahem…routes I don’t particular care for don’t offer enough upgrades or benefits for my taste.
Personally, I’m waiting for the non-stop to launch between FUK-DIS.
@Ed — Woah, some of those are… ‘advanced’ (needed to consult the ‘urban dictionary’ for Cuyahoga.) Oof.
Wasn’t there a story that a woman took offence for thinking that the check in agent called her FAT? Think of the hours of fun you can have with all the airport codes you can come up with with..
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_airport_code:_A
Bod Gaya Airport has brought on the Streisand effect now that everybody wants to go there! Just to have the airport code on your baggage tag.
@GUWonder — I appreciate the overview. From what I’ve witnessed, the Hindu nationalists in India (and how things are ‘covered’ on channels like Republic TV) make Fox News look… actually ‘fair’ and ‘balanced.’
Somewhat relatedly, should know soon whether the recent threats of tariffs against India (by #45/47) are for real, or just more TACO. I was under the impression that India was to be the next ‘China’ but more aligned with the West. Who knows anymore… Vietnam got taken for a ride, too, recently.
As it relates to airport codes, I see MOD is already taken, Modesto County Airport in California; MDI, too, in Nigeria. Oh well. DOH!
@Parker — Eh, not a bad GIG (Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport.)
@1990 — I daresay you’d be a fan of a Burgas, Bulgaria to Nantucket route
@L737 — ‘Really, Diane?’
I can’t believe we’ve all neglected Busan, South Korea.
Several carriers do actually operate daily flights on the FUK-PUS route: Korean, Jeju, Busan, Jin Air. Like, that PUS is getting a lot of action lately!
Great way to teach your tween children geography
@1990 indeed, only saw the reports about the United meltdown after I landed.
Getting stuck in Philly last week aside, I’ve had some good luck.
Last summer my family went to Europe and luckily we took Condor and escaped the Delta meltdown. Some of the extended family members got caught in the aftermath though.
I once had an itinerary booked from Hailey, Idaho (Sun Valley) to San Diego on Alaska: SUN-SEA-SAN.
What do the proponents even want to change it to? GYA is already taken with Guayaramerín Airport in Bolivia. Anything else would have to be different enough no longer trigger a ready reference to Gaya. It sounds like they want to change from something that a few people find offensive to something that everyone would find confusing.
@IsaacM — Woohoo! Glad you made it.
@InLA — You might be one of the few people who actually read the post and took the alleged ‘controversy’ seriously. The rest of us were mostly sharing fun airport codes. GOT any? (Gothenburg Landvetter Airport in Sweden). Or maybe, we should re-LAX… (Los Ang…, well, I hope you knew that one!)
New day new airport code humor. @1990, PUS was a good oversight! Wonder if Delta will fly Mozes Kilangin – Dundas anytime soon?
have you guys traveled in japan? kix-fuk
For gawd’s sake. What will one think of next to be something to get overly sensitive about? Much ado about nothing. And here I am acknowledging it!
@L737 — That’s a good one! TIM-DUN.
Did you see the new SP episode yet? Mr. Mackey would probably fly Allen Army Airfield in Alaska to Nutuve Airport in Papua New Guinea. BIG-NUT.
I believe another airport code joke itinerary went Fukuoka-Singapore-Helsinki (FUK-SIN-HEL)
Reading up on where airport codes came from took me down a big rabbithole..
Concord, NC (USA) really needs to be changed. That’s just dumb.
These are available:
CBA (Cabarrus County) or
QCN (Queen City North)
@1990 — not YET (as in Edson airport in Alberta) but I saw the episode title! Very fitting m’kay
@L737 — Ah, TOO soon (as in, San Vito de Java Airport in Costa Rica).
OH MAI GOD.
FAG is a real code.
Now to find out where Fagurholsmyri is located.
Back when I worked for Great Lakes/United Express, our ops sheets would list a flight # and the sequence beneathe it.
We had to reposition a Brasilia to DICKINSON, ND – won’t put the code here – and we flew it over Sioux City.
So the OPS worksheet said – 5999 – 299UX – ORDSUXD** .
Yeah, we had a field day on every line thru Sioux City, which wasn’t a regular city for us (but we did a LOT of scheduled charters thru there).
@haolenate — Oh, dear friend, no need to spare our ‘virgin’ eyes or ears, you can say any and all of it on here; look back at the first page of comments. And no need to ask, @O’Hare Is My Second Home, we already know that ORD-SUX-DIK. In fact, some would say, a better, more accurate route is to Dixon Municipal Airport, also in Illinois. ORD-SUX-DIX.
If people in Gaya, India, don’t want to remind people of the word “gay” when they see the city’s airport code GAY, have they considered that the word “Gay” makes up 3/4 of their city’s name? If that is a concern for them, they should probably change the name of the entire city first.
Please don’t show the folks in Fresno this article.
I’ve flown into SUX. They have SUX merchandise (hats, t-shirts) in the airport. I think it’s clever.
@Terry — That is clever. Each of these ‘unique’ airports should cash-in. Was surprised ‘HEL’ didn’t as much when I flew through there.
Sad thing about Sioux City’s airport is that is was known for UA232; though a majority survived, it was a deadly accident, referred to as ‘the impossible landing.’ Tragic, but also miraculous.
The incident inspired a crash scene in the 1993 film Fearless with Jeff Bridges. Well done, but very intense.