What airport is IAD?
Why the code is IAD
A deliberate scramble of DIA, which was too easily misread as DCA in handwriting.
This is the explanation in general circulation and it is very likely right, but no primary document has been published that settles it. Treated as an account rather than a fact.
The airport
- IATA code
- IAD
- ICAO code
- KIAD
- Airport
- Washington Dulles International Airport
- City
- Washington, United States
- Opened
- 1962
- Code origin
- The usual account, unverified
Dulles opened with the code DIA, and controllers and clerks kept confusing handwritten DIA with DCA, the other Washington airport 30 miles away. The letters were reordered to IAD, which cannot be mistaken for anything. This is the account the airport authority itself gives, though no contemporaneous memo ordering the change has been published.
Codes it used to have
| Code | Until | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| DIA | 1968 | Dulles International Airport. Reordered because handwritten DIA was being read as DCA. |
Codes people book by mistake
| Code | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| DCA | Reagan National, much closer to the city and the reason IAD is not DIA. |
The other code, KIAD
Every airport has two codes. The three-letter IATA code, IAD, is the one on your boarding pass and your luggage tag, and it is assigned for commercial use. The four-letter ICAO code, KIAD, 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 KIAD looks nothing like IAD.
Common questions
- What airport is IAD?
- Washington Dulles International Airport, in Washington, United States.
- Why is Washington's airport called IAD?
- A deliberate scramble of DIA, which was too easily misread as DCA in handwriting.
- What is the difference between IAD and KIAD?
- IAD is the IATA code, used commercially — tickets, timetables, luggage tags. KIAD is the ICAO code, used operationally by pilots and air traffic control, and assigned geographically by region.
- Is IAD the same as DCA?
- No. DCA is reagan National, much closer to the city and the reason IAD is not DIA.
Related pages
- United States Capital, area, population and currency
- The flag of United States Colours, symbols and lookalikes
- Airport codes in United States 32 here
- What airport is DCA? Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
- What airport is JFK? John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York
- What airport is LAX? Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles
- What airport is ORD? O'Hare International Airport, Chicago
- What airport is ATL? Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta
- What airport is MCO? Orlando International Airport, Orlando
- What airport is DFW? Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas
- What airport is EWR? Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark
- What airport is SFO? San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco
Sources
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place