What's "Q" in the airline IATA codes?

4/28/2022 3:34:14 AM

Airline codes don’t have any specific meaning as such – they are simply 2 letters (or sometimes one letter and one number) selected by the airline itself, with the requirement that they are unique.

We could only guess as to why Jetstar selected "JQ" as their code, however at the time they were being founded the more obvious code "JE" was already in use (by "Manx Airlines", and then subsequently by South Africa’s "Mango" and now seemingly Germany’s "Jettainer"). Similarly, "JS" is assigned to North Korea’s Air Koryo.

The Q in JQ was likely selected as a reference to Jetstar’s parent company, Qantas, who also have a Q in their IATA code, "QF" (which in itself stands for "Qantas Flight" – or at least so legend says!)

Singapore Airlines was in a similar situation, with the more obviously codes of "SI" and "SA" already being assigned (to Sierra Pacific Airlines in the US and South African Airlines, respectively). Rumor has it that "SQ" was selected as a reference to "Superior Quality", however I have never actually seen anything to confirm that.

With only 2 letter codes and countless global airlines it’s not surprising that codes end up not representing the name of the airline – with many newer airline codes seemingly bearing no resemblance to the airlines name, unlike the two you’ve mentioned which at least have one letter that matches!

4/28/2022 1:32:30 AM

If a good one is taken, you’ve gotta make choices. Something like JT might have made sense, but that’s taken by Lion Air. JS? North Korea’s airline Air Koryo. JL? Japan Airlines.

As a result:

  • Jetstar – JQ
  • Jetstar Asia – 3K
  • Jetstar Japan – GK
4/28/2022 1:13:44 AM

When all the matching letters are taken, you have to pick something else. They just didn’t have any nicer choices left.

Somer newer airlines have codes like S6 or 4E – picking through the remainders.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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