---
title: "ORD is which airport? Chicago"
description: "ORD is O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, United States. Why the code is ORD and not something you could guess, plus the codes it gets mixed up with."
url: https://atoneplace.net/airport/ord/
site: "At One Place"
---

# What airport is ORD?

**ORD is: O'Hare International Airport**

Chicago, United States

## Why the code is ORD

Orchard Place, the hamlet the airfield was built over, by way of its wartime name Orchard Field. The airport was renamed for Edward O'Hare in 1949; the code was not.

The airport authority or a contemporaneous record states this directly.

## The airport

- **IATA code:** ORD
- **ICAO code:** KORD
- **Airport:** O'Hare International Airport
- **City:** Chicago, United States
- **Opened:** 1944
- **Code origin:** Documented

The site was a Douglas Aircraft plant building C-54 transports, and the strip beside it was Orchard Field — hence ORD, assigned before the war ended. In 1949 it was renamed for Edward "Butch" O'Hare, a Navy pilot awarded the Medal of Honor, and the code stayed because changing an assigned code means reprinting every timetable and retraining every controller. It is the most-asked "why does this code make no sense" question in aviation, and the answer is simply that the code is older than the name.

## Codes it used to have

| Code | Until | What happened |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ORD | — | The code never changed. The airport changed around it, from Orchard Field to O'Hare in 1949. |

## The other code, KORD

Every airport has two codes. The three-letter IATA code, ORD, is the one on your boarding pass and your luggage tag, and it is assigned for commercial use. The four-letter ICAO code, KORD, 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 KORD looks nothing like ORD.

## Common questions

### What airport is ORD?

O'Hare International Airport, in Chicago, United States.

### Why is Chicago's airport called ORD?

Orchard Place, the hamlet the airfield was built over, by way of its wartime name Orchard Field. The airport was renamed for Edward O'Hare in 1949; the code was not.

### What is the difference between ORD and KORD?

ORD is the IATA code, used commercially — tickets, timetables, luggage tags. KORD is the ICAO code, used operationally by pilots and air traffic control, and assigned geographically by region.

## Related pages

- [United States](https://atoneplace.net/country/united-states/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [Airport codes in United States](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/united-states/)
- [What airport is JFK?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/jfk/)
- [What airport is LAX?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/lax/)
- [What airport is ATL?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/atl/)
- [What airport is MCO?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/mco/)
- [What airport is DFW?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/dfw/)
- [What airport is EWR?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/ewr/)
- [What airport is SFO?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/sfo/)
- [What airport is LGA?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/lga/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)