At One Place

What airport is FRA?

FRA is
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt, Germany

Why the code is FRA

The first three letters of Frankfurt.

The airport authority or a contemporaneous record states this directly.

The airport

IATA code
FRA
ICAO code
EDDF
Airport
Frankfurt Airport
City
Frankfurt, Germany
Opened
1936
Code origin
Documented

Frankfurt has the largest air cargo operation in Europe and its own long-distance railway station, from which trains run to most of Germany — Lufthansa sells some connections as train legs with flight numbers. The airport sits in a forest and the surrounding trees are legally protected, which has constrained every expansion attempt.

The other code, EDDF

Every airport has two codes. The three-letter IATA code, FRA, is the one on your boarding pass and your luggage tag, and it is assigned for commercial use. The four-letter ICAO code, EDDF, is the one pilots and controllers use, and it is assigned geographically: the first letter or two identify the region, so every airport in the same part of the world shares a prefix. That is why EDDF looks nothing like FRA.

Common questions

What airport is FRA?
Frankfurt Airport, in Frankfurt, Germany.
Why is Frankfurt's airport called FRA?
The first three letters of Frankfurt.
What is the difference between FRA and EDDF?
FRA is the IATA code, used commercially — tickets, timetables, luggage tags. EDDF is the ICAO code, used operationally by pilots and air traffic control, and assigned geographically by region.

Related pages

Sources

  1. Official vendor product documentation — At One Place

How these figures are compiled and checked