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Actually I just remembered an even more relevant funny story. One of the services I maintain at my job is a list of airport locations and their names in various

Actually I just remembered an even more relevant funny story. One of the services I maintain at my job is a list of airport locations and their names in various languages (for airlines to use) among other details. I get so many requests to change things from airlines that don't understand basic geography or even where they fly. My favorite is when a customer was raising hell because London International Airport (YXU) wasn't appearing under the city listing for London, UK and demanding it be added immediately. I had to tell them you don't fly there... it's located in Canada.

protomyth 10y ago
Perhaps they had watched a bit too much MST3K https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqrJOdWdJFo&feature=youtu.be&t=8m53s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqrJOdWdJFo&feature=youtu.be... 416- Fire Maidens of Outer Space
Pxtl 10y ago
Hah. The Y prefix alone should've been a tip off. I don't know a darned thing about air travel but I know Canada is stuck with the Y.
- Zombieball 10y ago
  I think technically Canada is stuck with the "C" prefix (vs. "K" for USA) eg. CYVR, CYUL, CYXX We also have airports with "CZ" (eg. CZBB). I am not sure what the difference (if any) between CZ vs. CY codes is. Probably just sticking with convention (begin with Y or Z because everyone else does).
  - agrahul 10y ago
    Yes, the entirety of C is currently allocated to Canada[1]. The parent comments were talking about IATA codes, though, which aren't allocated by prefix. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Civil_Aviation_Organization_airport_code#Prefixes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Civil_Aviation_O...
    - Pxtl 10y ago
      While IATA codes do not require a consistent prefix, all the Canadian airports start with Y: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_code:_Y https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_code:...
      - Zombieball 10y ago
        Interesting. I still see Canadian airports starting with Z. But Y is heavily Canadian. We should all just start our own airport. Sounds like a good way to learn about naming. I imagine we will want an airport code staring with YC, so it'll have to be in Canada :P
bigiain 10y ago
I used to work in travel - and there's always stories of people who think "Sydney NS" and "Sydney NSW" are near enough - the first is in Nova Scotia in Canada, which is quite a long way from the Sydney in New South Wales in Australia... https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/31/dutch-teen-ends-up-in-the-wrong-sydney.html https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/31/dutch-teen-ends-...
mabbo 10y ago
> I had to tell them you don't fly there... it's located in Canada. The worst part is that after you land at YXU you're in London, Ontario. (I lived near YXU for three years).

protomyth 10y ago

Perhaps they had watched a bit too much MST3K https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqrJOdWdJFo&feature=youtu.be&t=8m53s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqrJOdWdJFo&feature=youtu.be... 416- Fire Maidens of Outer Space

Pxtl 10y ago

Hah. The Y prefix alone should've been a tip off. I don't know a darned thing about air travel but I know Canada is stuck with the Y.

Zombieball 10y ago
I think technically Canada is stuck with the "C" prefix (vs. "K" for USA) eg. CYVR, CYUL, CYXX We also have airports with "CZ" (eg. CZBB). I am not sure what the difference (if any) between CZ vs. CY codes is. Probably just sticking with convention (begin with Y or Z because everyone else does).
- agrahul 10y ago
  Yes, the entirety of C is currently allocated to Canada[1]. The parent comments were talking about IATA codes, though, which aren't allocated by prefix. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Civil_Aviation_Organization_airport_code#Prefixes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Civil_Aviation_O...
  - Pxtl 10y ago
    While IATA codes do not require a consistent prefix, all the Canadian airports start with Y: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_code:_Y https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_code:...
    - Zombieball 10y ago
      Interesting. I still see Canadian airports starting with Z. But Y is heavily Canadian. We should all just start our own airport. Sounds like a good way to learn about naming. I imagine we will want an airport code staring with YC, so it'll have to be in Canada :P

bigiain 10y ago

I used to work in travel - and there's always stories of people who think "Sydney NS" and "Sydney NSW" are near enough - the first is in Nova Scotia in Canada, which is quite a long way from the Sydney in New South Wales in Australia... https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/31/dutch-teen-ends-up-in-the-wrong-sydney.html https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/31/dutch-teen-ends-...

mabbo 10y ago

> I had to tell them you don't fly there... it's located in Canada. The worst part is that after you land at YXU you're in London, Ontario. (I lived near YXU for three years).