IATA / WORLD TRAVEL GEOGRAPHY

IATA / WORLD TRAVEL GEOGRAPHY

All the airlines of the world operate their services to hundreds of destinations in different countries for the travelers to visit for varieties of purposes. Airlines focus upon their network of destinations in their advertisements as each of those is a valuable product for marketing and selling.

Geography is one of the key aspects in planning and pricing of a travel. Importantly, IATA has divided the world in its Traffic conference areas and further sub areas with some exceptions to the general political geography which is particularly applied to various international air tariff construction rules.

Each traveler (customer) may need to travel to a different destination or a set of destinations. He contacts a travel consultant in expectation of an expert advice regarding the features of the destinations he likes to visit and the best way his travel plan is routed through. Therefore, it is extremely essential for a travel consultant to have substantial knowledge of world destination geography.

Let us begin with the continents and the oceans of our earth. It is amazing to know that 71% of the earth is composed of the water of oceans and just about 29% the land. The earth's land is divided into seven major parts called continents. Listed below are the seven continents according to the ranks of their sizes.

1. ASIA 44,485,900 sq. km. 30.0% of earth's land

2. AFRICA 30,269,680 sq. km. 20.4%

3. NORTH AMERICA 24,235,280 sq. km. 16.3%

4. SOUTH AMERICA 17,820,770 sq. km 12.0%

5. ANTARCTICA 13,209,000 sq. km. 8.9%

6. EUROPE 10,530,750 sq. km. 7.1%

7. AUSTRALIA 7,682,300 sq. km. 5.2%

The four major oceans of the world are listed below according to their sizes.

1. PACIFIC 166,241,000 sq. kin. 46.0% of earth's water area

2. ATLANTIC 86,557,000 sq. km. 23.9%

3. INDIAN 73,427,000 sq. km 20.3%

4. ARCTIC 9,485,000 sq. km. 2.6%

IATA has divided the world into three areas called IATA Traffic Conference Areas for the purpose of regulations. Each of the Traffic conference area has also been divided into sub areas. You will find the description of them in the following pages with a map and further detailed in the list of the countries, their capitals and major cities along with the three letter IATA city and airport codes. This workbook also contains some blank maps for you to practice memorizing the locations of the major travel destinations of the world.

International Travel & Tourism Training Programme

3.1 IATA AREAS OF THE WORLD

For your easier reference, although the following locations are listed alphabetically in the PAT General Rules Book, this section gives you a copy of the list of countries arranged by sub-areas and Traffic Conference Areas.

3.1.1 Traffic Conference Area 1 (TC1)

In its entirety, Area 1 or TC1 is composed of the Western Hemisphere but has several classifications of sub-areas for fare construction purposes, two of which are listed below.

The first classification divides TC1 into the following sub-areas:

1. North America

Canada (CA)

USA (US)

Mexico (MX)

St. Pierre & Miquelon (PM)

2. Central America

Belize (BZ)

Costa Rica (CR)'

El Salvador (SV),

Guatemala (GT)-

Honduras (HN)

Nicaragua (NI)

Guyana (GY)

French Guiana (GF)

Suriname (SR)

3. Caribbean Area,  

Bahamas (BS) -

Bermuda (BM)-

Caribbean Islands*

* Caribbean Islands include Anguilla (AI), Antigua and Barbuda (AG), Aruba (AW), Barbados BB), Cayman Islands (KY), Cuba (CU), Dominica (DM), Dominican Republic (DO), Grenada (GD), Guadeloupe (GP), Haiti (HT), Jamaica (JNI), Martinique (MQ), Montserrat (MS), Netherlands Antilles (AN), St. Kitts and Nevis (KN), St. Lucia (LC), St. Vincent and the Grenadines (VC), Trinidad and Tobago (TT), Turks and Caicos Islands (TC), Virgin Islands- British (VG).

4. South America

For travel wholly within the South American sub-area, the following countries shall also be considered as part of South America:

Argentina (AR) Bolivia (BO) Brazil (BR) Chile (CL), Colombia (CO)

Ecuador (BC) French Guiana (GF) Guyana (GY) Panamá (PA) Paraguay (PY)-

Peru (PE) Suriname (SR) Uruguay (UY) Venezuela (YE)

IATA Geography and Global Indicators

International Travel & Tourism Training Programme

The second classification of TC1 sub-areas include the following:

1. North Atlantic sub-area covers Canada, Greenland (GL), Mexico, and the USA which includes Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands.

2. Mid Atlantic sub-area includes all of the Caribbean Area sub-area, Central America, South America plus Panama Canal zone except Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

3. South Atlantic sub-area includes only Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (ABCPU).

Important: You will sometimes find fare rules that may specify variations in the composition of thc sub-areas. In such eases for the purpose of reference in those rules, you have to take note of certain exceptions to the sub-area definitions.

Area 2 is subdivided into only three main sub-areas. You will find the countries for each sub-area below.

3.1.2 Traffic Conference Area

1. Europe

Albania (AL)- Algeria (DZ) Andorra (AD) Armenia (AM) Austria (AT) Azerbaijan (AZ) Belarus (BY) Belgium (BE) Bosnia Herzegovina (BA) Bulgaria (BG) Croatia (HR) Cyprus (CY) Czech Republic (CZ) Denmark (DK) Estonia (BE) Faroe Islands (FO) Finland (FT). France (FR) Georgia (GE) Germany (DE)  (TC2) Gibraltar (GI) Greece (GR)' Hungary (HU) Iceland (IS)/ Ireland, Rep. of (IE)---A. Italy (IT) Latvia (LV) Liechtenstein (LI) Lithuania (LT) Luxembourg (LU) Macedonia (MK) Malta (MT) Moldova, Rep. of (MD) Monaco (MC) Morocco (MA) Netherlands (NL) Norway (NO) Poland (PL). Portugal (PT) including Azores & Madeira Romania (RO) IATA

International Travel & Tourism Training Programme

Russia in Europe (RU) San Marino (SM) Serbia and Montenegro (CS) Slovakia (SK) Slovenia (SI) Spain, including Balearic & Canary Islands (ES)  Sweden (SE) Switzerland (CH) Tunisia (TN) Turkey (TR) Ukraine (UA) United Kingdom (GB)

Within Europe, you will also find other commonly used sub-groups such as:

• European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) and related

states (28): Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

• Economic & Monetary Union (EMU) (21): Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France and its territories including Monaco, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain.

• Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway & Sweden

2. Africa:

Africa is subdivided further into regions such as:

• Central Africa composed of Malawi (MW), Zambia (ZM), Zimbabwe (ZW)

• Eastern Africa composed of Burundi (BI), Djibouti (DJ), Eritrea (ER), Ethiopia (ET), Kenya (KE), Rwanda (RW), Somalia (SO), Tanzania (TZ) and Uganda (UG)

• Southern Africa composed of Botswana (BW), Lesotho (LS), Mozambique (MZ), South Africa (ZA), Namibia (NA), Swaziland (SZ)

• Libya or Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (LY)

• Indian Ocean Islands consisting of the Comoros (KM), Madagascar (MG), Mauritius (MU), Mayotte (YT), Reunion (RE), Seychelles (SC)

Western Africa consisting of Angola (AO), Benin (BY), Burkina Faso (BF), Cameroon (CM), Cape Verde (CV), Central African Republic (CF), Chad (TD), Congo (CG), Cote d'Ivoire (CI), Democratic Republic of Congo (CD), Equatorial Guinea (GQ), Gabon (GA), Gambia (GM), Ghana (GH), Guinea (GN), Guinea

IATA Geography and Global Indicators

International Travel & Tourism Training Programme

Air Fares & Ticketing 1

Bissau,(GW), Liberia (LR), Mali (ML), Mauritania (MR), Niger (NE), Nigeria (NG), Principe and Sao Tome (ST), Senegal (SN), Sierra Leone (SL) and Togo (TG).

3. Middle East

Bahrain (BH). Egypt (EG) Iran (lR) • Iraq (IQ) • Israel (IL) Jordan (JO) Kuwait (KW)

Lebanon (LB) Oman, Sultanate of (OM) Qatar (QA) Saudi Arabia (SA) Sudan (SD) United Arab Emirates (AE) Syrian Arab Republic (SY)- Yemen, Republic of (YE)

3.1.3 Traffic Conference Area 3 (TC3)

Area 3 is composed of the wliole of Asia and the adjacent islands except the part included already in Area 2; the East Indies, Australia, New Zealand the neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean except those in TC1

1. South East Asia Sub-area (SEA)

Brunei Darussalam (BN) • Cambodia (KH) China excluding Hong Kong SAP. and Macau SAP. (CN) Chinese Taipei (formerly Taiwan) (TW) Christmas Island (CX) • Cocos (Keeling) Islands (CC) Guam (GU) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (HK) Indonesia (ID) ' Kazakhstan (KZ) Kyrgyzstan (KG) Laos (LA) Macao Special Administrative Region, China (MO) Malaysia (MY) - Marshall Islands (MH) Micronesia (FM) Mongolia (MN) Myanmar (KM) • Northern Mariana Islands (MP) Palau (PW) Philippines (PH) Russia in Asia (XU) Singapore (SG) Tajikistan (TJ) • Thailand (TH) • Timor Leste (TL)  Turkmenistan (TM)° Uzbekistan (UZ) Viet Nam (VN)

2. South Asian Subcontinent Sub-area (SASC)

Afghanistan (AF). Maldives (MV) Bangladesh (BD) Nepal (NP) Bhutan (BT) Pakistan (PK) India (IN) Sri Lanka (LK)

3.. Japan, Korea Sub-area

Japan (JP) Korea, Democratic Republic of (ICP) Korea, Republic of (KR)

4. South West Pacific Sub-area

merican Samoa (AS) Australia (AU)' Cook Islands (CK)- Fiji (FJ) " French Polynesia (PF) Kiribati (KI) Nauru (NR) New Caledonia including Loyalty Islands (NC) New Zealand (NZ)- Niue (NU) Papua New Guinea (PG) Samoa (WS) Solomon Islands (SB) Tonga (TO)' Tuvalu (TV) Vanuatu (VU) Willis & Futuna Islands (WF) and intermediate islands

International Travel & Tourism Training Programme

(IATA's Traffic Conference Areas and sub-areas are not the same as continents. There are countries that are geographically located in one continent but are classified in another area for IATA fare construction purposes)

Air Fares & Ticketing 1

3.2 IATA GLOBAL INDICATORS

Fares vary not only by class of service or fare type but also by routing type as represented by global indicators (GI). For example, an economy or Y fare from Los Angeles to Hong Kong via the Atlantic would be higher than the fare paid by the passenger if he travelled via the Pacific.

In order to quote the correct fare, you will need to know the type of routing the passenger is taking. The routing types are represented by global indicators which you will find listed with a short summary in either Section 1.1.3 or Section 2.4.8 of the PAT Training Extract.

On the next pages, you will find the explanation to the various types of global indicators per area and by joint traffic conference areas.

TC1   also refers to travel within Area 1 or the Western Hemisphere. GI: WH - Western Hemisphere travel example: RIO-MIA

TC2 represents travel within Area 2 or the Eastern Hemisphere. GI: EH - for Eastern Hemisphere travel example: GVA-JNB

TC3 also refers-ti travel within Area 3 which is part of Eastern Hemisphere travel. GI: EH - for Eastern Hemisphere routing example: SIN-KBL

TC1-2 Travel between Area 1 and Area 2 GI: AT - via the Atlantic Ocean example: ZRH-NYC-RIO

TC3-1 Travel between Area 3 and Area 1 GI: PA - via the Pacific examples: BJS SFO SEA- TPE BOG - SFO - MNL PN - Transpacific routing between South America and South West Pacific via North America but not via the North and Central Pacific examples: SYD - LAX - MEX - SCL TC1-2-3 Travel between Area 1 and Area 3 via Area 2 GI: AT - via the Atlantic Ocean examples: HKG- LON- YTO RIO- FRA- BKK KI-II - KWI - NYC DAC - NYC (transiting DEL and BRU)

SA - via the South Atlantic routing Between South Atlantic sub-area and Southeast Asia 'r- the Atlantic and via point(s) in Central Africa, Southern Africa, Indian Ocean Islands only or via direct services examples: a) RIO to HKG where the direct flight flies over Johannesburg b) SIN - IVIRU - JNB -SAO

TC2-3 Travel between Area 2 and Area 3 Global Indicators: (by ranking)

AP - via the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans example: BKG-YVR-LON

RU - Between Russia in Europe. and TC3 with a flight coupon on nonstop service between Russia (in Europe) and Japan/ Korea; not via another country(ies) in Europe example: MOW - TYO HKG - SEL - MOW- LED

TS - travel between TC2 and TC3 (which is other than RU/FE/EH) with a flight coupon on nonstop services between Europe and Japan/ Korea examples: a) STO TYO b) BKK - TYO - FRA c) HKG - SEL - MOW - LCA d) MOW - PAR - OSA

FE - travel exclusively between Russia (in Europe)/ Ukraine and Area 3 (other than RU/TS/EH) with a flight coupon on a nonstop sector between Russia (in Europe)/ Ukraine and TC3 other than Japan Korea. examples: a) MOW-SIN b)   - MOW - BJS - TY0

EH - via Eastern Hemisphere (which does not fall under any above-mentioned global indicator) examples: a) BKG - DXB - MOW b) MOW - PAR - SIN c) JNB - KUL - SYD

Three Letter City and Airport Code For Asia

Three Letter City and Airport Code For Europe

 Three Letter City and Airport Code For Africa

 Three Letter City and Airport Code For Australasia & Pacific & North America 

Three Letter City and Airport Code For  Central America & South America