What is an ICAO airline code?

It is a unique 3-letter code the International Civil Aviation Organization assigns to each airline operator, used in flight plans and air traffic control. British Airways is BAW and Lufthansa is DLH. It is paired with a spoken telephony callsign.

How does it differ from the IATA airline code?

IATA codes are 2 characters and appear on tickets and flight numbers, while ICAO codes are 3 letters and are used operationally by controllers. British Airways is BA in IATA and BAW in ICAO.

What is the telephony callsign?

It is the spoken name a flight crew uses on the radio, which often differs from both the brand and the codes. BAW flights identify as Speedbird, AFR as Airfrans, and EIN as Shamrock.

Why are ICAO codes used in flight plans rather than IATA codes?

ICAO codes are globally unique and tied to certified operators, which makes them unambiguous for air traffic management. A flight plan filed as BAW286 leaves no doubt about the operator, whereas IATA codes can be shared in code-share arrangements.

Does this lookup require an internet connection?

No. The data is built into the tool and the search runs in your browser, so it works offline and sends nothing to any server.

Airline ICAO Code Lookup

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In air traffic control and flight planning, airlines are identified by a unique three-letter ICAO operator code, not the two-letter IATA designator passengers see. This tool resolves an ICAO code such as BAW or DLH to the airline name, country, and the spoken callsign used on the radio.

How it works

ICAO maintains the three-letter operator codes and the paired telephony callsigns in Doc 8585. Each code is globally unique and tied to a certified operator, which is why flight plans and controller communications use it rather than the shareable IATA designator. British Airways, for instance, is BAW in ICAO, BA in IATA, and is spoken as “Speedbird” on frequency.

The tool searches your text against the ICAO code, the IATA code, the airline name, the country, and the callsign, so you can start from whichever you know.

Tips and example

If you are listening to live ATC and hear a callsign, type it to find the operator — searching Shamrock returns Aer Lingus with the code EIN. To convert between systems, enter the IATA code you already have: LH returns Lufthansa with the ICAO code DLH. The reference set covers major international carriers; smaller regional, cargo, and charter operators may not be listed.