An aircraft type designator is a two-, three- or four-character
alphanumeric
Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are a combination of alphabetical and numerical characters. More specifically, they are the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits. An alphanumeric code is an identifier made of alphanumeric c ...
code designating every aircraft type (and some sub-types) that may appear in flight planning. These codes are defined by both the
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
(ICAO) and the
International Air Transport Association. ICAO codes are published in ICAO Document 8643 ''Aircraft Type Designators''
and are used by
air traffic control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
and airline operations such as
flight planning
Flight planning is the process of producing a flight plan to describe a proposed aircraft flight. It involves two safety-critical aspects: fuel calculation, to ensure that the aircraft can safely reach the destination, and compliance with air tr ...
. While ICAO designators are used to distinguish between aircraft types and variants that have different performance characteristics affecting ATC, the codes do not differentiate between service characteristics (passenger and freight variants of the same type/series will have the same ICAO code). IATA codes are published in Appendix A of IATA's annual Standard Schedules Information Manual (SSIM) and are used for
airline timetables and computer reservation systems.
IATA designators are used to distinguish between aircraft types and variants that have differences from an airline commercial perspective (size, role, interior configuration, etc). As well as an Aircraft Type Code, IATA may optionally define an Aircraft Group Code for types and variants that share common characteristics (for example all Boeing 747 freighters, regardless of series).
The following is a partial list of ICAO type designators for a range of multi-engined and turbine aircraft, with corresponding IATA type codes where available.
See also
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List of aircraft
The lists of aircraft are sorted in alphabetical order.
Further reading
The following reference sources, among many others, have been used to compile this list:
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List of Bushplanes
A bush airplane is a general aviation aircraft used to provide both scheduled and unscheduled passenger and flight services to remote, undeveloped areas, such as the Canadian north or bush, Alaskan tundra, the African bush, or savanna, Amazon rai ...
* List of light transport aircraft
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List of racing aircraft
This list of racing aircraft covers aircraft which have been designed or significantly modified to take part in air races. It does not include minimally modified aircraft which were not built for racing, even if they have taken part in races.
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List of regional airliners
The following is a list of commercial short-haul civilian passenger "regional" airliners with significant build numbers. Regional airliners typically seat fewer than 100 passengers and fill the short-hop role in the hub and spoke model of passen ...
References
{{reflist
International Civil Aviation Organization
aircraft type designators