- Aircraft registration
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Aircraft registration A Van's Aircraft RV-7 displaying registration G-KELS. The G prefix denotes a civil aircraft registered in the United Kingdom An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile. In accordance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation all aircraft must be registered with a national aviation authority and they must carry proof of this registration in the form of a legal document called a Certificate of Registration at all times when in operation. Most countries also require the aircraft registration to be imprinted on a permanent fireproof plate mounted on the fuselage for the purposes of post-fire/post-crash aircraft accident investigation.
Because airplanes typically display their registration numbers on the aft fuselage just forward of the tail, in earlier times more often on the tail itself, the registration is often referred to as the "tail number".
Although each aircraft registration is unique, some, but not all countries allow it to be re-used when the aircraft has been sold, destroyed or retired. For example N3794N is assigned to a Mooney M20F.[1] It had been previously assigned to a Beechcraft Bonanza (specifically, the aircraft in which Buddy Holly was killed). Also note that an individual aircraft may be assigned different registrations during its existence. This can be because the aircraft changes ownership, state of registration, or in some cases for vanity reasons. An example of this is Middle East Airlines which has changed registrations on part of its Airbus A321-200 fleet from French registrations to Lebanese ones.
Contents
Certificate of Registration
The Certificate of Registration contains contact information used by national authorities for enforcement purposes, and for the purposes of disseminating Airworthiness Directives to aircraft owners. Most national authorities require that the aircraft owner update said contact information immediately or as soon as possible any time there is a change in the same.
See also: Emergency Locator Transmitter#Registrationfor information about registering aircraft ELTs.
International standards
The first use of aircraft registrations was based on the radio callsigns allocated at the London International Radiotelegraphic Conference in 1913. This was modified by agreement by the International Bureau at Berne and published on April 23, 1913. Although initial allocations were not specifically for aircraft but for any radio user, the International Air Navigation Convention held in Paris in 1919 made allocations specifically for aircraft registrations based on the 1913 callsign list. The agreement stipulated that the nationality marks were to be followed by a hyphen then a group of four letters that must include a vowel (and for the convention Y was considered to be a vowel).
At the International Radiotelegraph Convention at Washington in 1927 the list of markings was revised and adopted from 1928, these allocations are the basis of the currently used registrations. The marking have been amended and added to over the years and the allocations and standard are managed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Article 20 of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation (signed in 1944) requires that all signatory countries register aircraft over a certain weight with a national aviation authority. Upon registration, the aircraft receives its unique "registration" which must be displayed prominently on the aircraft.
Annex 7 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation describes the definitions, location, and measurement of nationality and registration marks. The aircraft registration is made up of a prefix selected from the country's callsign prefix allocated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (making the registration a quick way of determining the country of origin) and the registration suffix. Depending on the country of registration, this suffix is a numeric or alphanumeric code and consists of one to five digits or characters respectively.
The ICAO provides a supplement to Annex 7 which provides an updated list of approved Nationality and Common Marks used by various countries.
Country-specific usage
When painted on the fuselage, the prefix and suffix are separated by a dash (for example YR-BMA), but when entered in a flight plan, the dash is omitted (for example YRBMA). In the United States, the prefix and suffix are painted without a dash. Aircraft flying privately usually use their registration as their radio callsign, but many aircraft flying in commercial operations (especially charter, cargo, and airlines) use the ICAO airline designator or a company callsign. In some instances, it may be sufficient to simply display the suffix letters, with the country prefix omitted. For example, gliders registered in Australia would omit the VH prefix and simply display the suffix. Obviously this is only suitable where the aircraft does not fly in the airspace of another country.
Even if the suffix consists solely of alphabetical characters in a certain country, gliders and ultralights may sometimes use digits instead. For example, in Germany, D-ABCD can be a powered airplane while D-1234 is a glider. In Australia, early glider registration suffixes began with the letters "G-AU", and it is not uncommon to find such gliders only displaying the last two letters of the suffix, as they lacked the range to travel internationally. For example, VH-GIQ would simply be displayed as IQ.
Different countries have different registration schemes: Canadian registrations start with C, British with G, German with D, and so forth. A comprehensive list is tabulated below.
United States
In the United States, the registration number is also referred to as an "N-number", as all aircraft registered there have a number starting with N. An alpha-numeric system is used because of the large numbers of aircraft registered in the United States. An N-number may only consist of one to five characters, must start with a digit other than zero, and cannot end in a run of more than two letters. In addition, N-numbers may not contain the letters I or O, due to their similarities with the numerals 1 and 0.[2]
Each alphabetic character in the suffix can have one of 24 discrete values, while each numeric digit can be one of 10, except the first, which can take on only nine values. This yields a total of 915,399 possible registration numbers in the namespace, though certain combinations are reserved either for government use or for other special purposes.[2] With so many possible calls radio shortcuts are used. Normally when flying entirely within the United States an aircraft would not identify itself starting with "N", since that is assumed. Also, after initial contact is made with an aircraft control site only the last two or three characters are typically used.
The following are the combinations that could be used:
- N1 to N9 — Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) internal use only[2]
- N1A to N9Z
- N1AA to N9ZZ
- N10 to N99 — Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) internal use only[2]
- N10A to N99Z
- N10AA to N99ZZ
- N100 to N999
- N100A to N999Z
- N100AA to N999ZZ
- N1000 to N9999
- N1000A to N9999Z
- N10000 to N99999
An older aircraft (registered before 31 December 1948) may have a second letter in its identifier, identifying the category of aircraft. This additional letter is not actually part of the aircraft identification (e.g. NC12345 is the same registration as N12345). Aircraft category letters have not been included on any registration numbers issued since 1 January 1949, but they still appear on antique aircraft for authenticity purposes. The categories were:
- C = airline, commercial and private
- G = glider
- L = limited
- R = restricted (such as cropdusters and racing aircraft)
- S = state
- X = experimental
For example, N-X-211, the Ryan NYP aircraft flown by Charles Lindbergh as the Spirit of St. Louis, was registered in the experimental category.
Decolonisation and independence
The impact of decolonisation and independence on aircraft registration schemes has varied from place to place. Most countries on independence have had a new allocation granted taken from either an existing ITU allocation or the former countries ITU allocation. For example after partition in 1947 India retained the VT designation used by the British Raj, while Pakistan adopted the AP designation from the newly allocated ITU callsigns APA-ASZ. Hong Kong, which formerly used the VR-H designation, had the "VR" replaced with the Chinese "B" upon the 1997 Handover to China, resulting in aircraft designations with only four letters in total (as opposed to the international norm of five letters).
List of countries/regions and their registration prefixes and patterns
Country / Region Registration Prefix Presentation Afghanistan YA YA-AAA to YA-ZZZ Albania ZA ZA-AAA to ZA-ZZZ Algeria 7T 7T-AAA to 7T-ZZZ Andorra C3 C3-AAA to C3-ZZZ Angola D2 D2-AAA to D2-ZZZ Anguilla VP-A VP-AAA to VP-AZZ Antigua and Barbuda V2 V2-AAA to V2-ZZZ Argentina LV
LQLV-AAA to LV-ZZZ
LQ-AAA to LQ-ZZZ (Official use only)Armenia EK EK-10000 to EK-99999 Aruba P4 P4-AAA to P4-ZZZ Australia VH VH-AAA to VH-ZZZ Austria OE OE-AAA to OE-KZZ
OE-BAA to OE-BZZ (governmental service)
OE-LAA to OE-LZZ (airlines operating scheduled flights)
OE-VAA to OE-VZZ (test registrations)
OE-WAA to OE-WZZ (amphibian and sea planes)
OE-XAA to OE-XZZ (helicopters)
OE-0001 to OE-5999 (gliders)
OE-9000 to OE-9999 (motor gliders)Azerbaijan 4K 4K-AZ1 to 4K-AZ999
4K-10000 to 4K-99999Bahamas C6 C6-AAA to C6-ZZZ Bahrain A9C A9C-AA to A9C-ZZ Bangladesh S2 S2-AAA to S2-ZZZ Barbados 8P 8P-AAA to 8P-ZZZ Belarus EW EW-10000 to EW-99999 (ex-Soviet Union registrations)
EW-100AA to EW-999ZZ Aircraft in general, except:
EW-200PA to EW-299PA for Boeing 737
EW-100PJ to ER-299PJ for CRJ
EW-001PA, EW-85815 governmental
EW-0001L to EW-9999L for balloonsBelgium OO OO-AAA to OO-ZZZ (OO-Q never used)
OO-BAA to OO-BZZ (preferred for Balloons)
OO-YAA to OO-ZAA (preferred for gliders)
OO-01 to OO-499 (Homebuilt aircraft)
OO-501 to OO-999 & OO-A01 to OO-Z99 (Microlights)Belize V3 V3-AAA to V3-ZZZ Benin TY TY-AAA to TY-ZZZ Bermuda VP-B, VQ-B VP-BAA to VP-BZZ, VQ-BAA to VQ-BZZ Bhutan A5 A5-AAA to A5-ZZZ Bolivia CP CP-1000 to CP-9999 Bosnia and Herzegovina T9 T9-AAA to T9-ZZZ Bosnia and Herzegovina E7 E7-AAA to E7-ZZZ Botswana A2 A2-AAA to A2-ZZZ Brazil PP
PR
PT
PUPP-AAA to PP-ZZZ
PR-AAA to PR-ZZZ
PT-AAA to PT-ZZZ
PU-AAA to PU-ZZZ (Microlights/Experimental aircraft)British Virgin Islands VP-L VP-LAA to VP-LZZ Brunei V8 V8-AAA to V8-ZZZ
V8-AA1 to V8-ZZ9
V8-001 to V8-999Bulgaria LZ LZ-AAA to LZ-ZZZ Burkina Faso XT XT-AAA to XT-ZZZ Burundi 9U 9U-AAA to 9U-ZZZ Cambodia XU XU-AAA to XU-ZZZ Cameroon TJ TJ-AAA to TJ-ZZZ Canada C C-FAAA to C-FZZZ
C-GAAA to C-GZZZ
C-IAAA to C-IZZZ (ultralight aeroplanes only)Cape Verde D4 D4-AAA to D4-ZZZ Cayman Islands VP-C VP-CAA to VP-CZZ Central African Republic TL TL-AAA to TL-ZZZ Chad TT TT-AAA to TT-ZZZ Chile CC CC-AAA to CC-ZZZ
CC-CAA to CC-CZZ (commercial aircraft)
CC-PAA to CC-PZZ (private aircraft)
Republic of China (Taiwan) B B-10000 to B-99999 People's Republic of China B B-1000 to B-9999 Hong Kong, China B-H (formerly VR-H)
B-K
B-LB-HAA to B-HZZ
B-KAA to B-KZZ
B-LAA to B-LZZMacau, China B-M (formerly CS- during Portuguese rule before 1999) B-MAA to B-MZZ Colombia HJ
HKHJ-1000A to HJ-9999Z (Microlights)
HK-1000A to HK-9999ZComoros D6 D6-AAA to D6-ZZZ Congo, Republic of TN TN-AAA to TN-ZZZ Cook Islands E5 E5-AAA to E5-ZZZ Congo, Democratic Republic of 9Q 9Q-AAA to 9Q-ZZZ Costa Rica TI TI-AAA to TI-ZZZ Côte d'Ivoire TU TU-AAA to TU-ZZZ Croatia 9A 9A-AAA to 9A-ZZZ
9A-GAA to 9A-GZZ (Gliders)
9A-HAA to 9A-HZZ (Helicopters)Cuba CU CU-C1000 to CU-C1999 (Airlines, cargo operations)[3]
CU-E1000 to CU-E1999 (Agricultural Aircraft)[4]
CU-H1000 to CU-H1999 (Helicopters)
CU-N1000 to CU-N1999 (Private Aircraft)
CU-T1000 to CU-T1999 (Airlines, passenger flights)
CU-U1000 to CU-U1999 (Ultralights)[5]Cyprus, Republic of 5B 5B-AAA to 5B-ZZZ Czech Republic OK OK-AAA to OK-ZZZ
OK-AAA 00 to OK-ZZZ 99 (Microlights)
OK-0000 to OK-9999 (Gliders & balloons)
OK-A000 to OK-A999 (Ultralight gliders)[6]Denmark OY N2 OY-AAA to OY-ZZZ
OY-HAA to OY-HZZ (Helicopters)Djibouti J2 J2-AAA to J2-ZZZ Dominica J7 J7-AAA to J7-ZZZ Dominican Republic HI HI-100AA to HI-999ZZ East Timor 4W N1 Ecuador HC HC-AAA to HC-ZZZ Egypt SU SU-AAA to SU-XXZ
SU-ZAA to SU-ZZZEl Salvador YS YS-AAA to YS-ZZZ Equatorial Guinea 3C 3C-AAA to 3C-ZZZ Eritrea E3 E3-AAAA to E3-ZZZZ Estonia ES ES-AAA to ES-ZZZ Ethiopia ET ET-AAA to ET-ZZZ Falkland Islands VP-F VP-FAA to VP-FZZ Faroe Islands OY N2 OY-AAA to OY-ZZZ
OY-HAA to OY-HZZ (Helicopters)
OY-XAA to OY-XZZ (Gliders)Fiji Islands DQ DQ-AAA to DQ-ZZZ Finland OH OH-AAA to OH-ZZZ
OH-001 to OH-999 (gliders)
OH-G001 to OH-G999 (autogyros)
OH-U001 to OH-U999 (ultralights)France F F-AAAA to F-ZZZZ
F-CAAA to F-CZZZ (Gliders)
F-OAAA to F-OZZZ (Overseas Territories)
F-PAAA to F-PZZZ (Homebuilt)
F-WAAA to F-WZZZ (Test and Delivery)
F-ZAAA to F-ZZZZ (State owned)
"department number"-AA to -ZZ & -AAA to -ZZZ (Ultralights)[e.g.: 59-ABC]French West Indies F-OG F-OGAA to F-OGZZ French Guyana F-O F-OAAA to F-OZZZ Gabon TR TR-AAA to TR-ZZZ Gambia C5 C5-AAA to C5-ZZZ Georgia 4L 4L-AAA to 4L-ZZZ
4L-10000 to 4L-99999Germany D D-AAAA to D-AZZZ for aircraft with more than 20t MTOW
D-BAAA to D-BZZZ for aircraft with 14t-20t MTOW
D-CAAA to D-CZZZ for aircraft with 5,7t-14t MTOW
D-EAAA to D-EZZZ for single engine aircraft up to 2t MTOW
D-FAAA to D-FZZZ for single engine aircraft from to 2t-5,7t MTOW
D-GAAA to D-GZZZ for multi-engine aircraft up to 2t MTOW
D-IAAA to D-IZZZ for multi-engine aircraft from 2t-5,7t MTOW
D-HAAA to D-HZZZ for rotorcraft
D-KAAA to D-KZZZ for powered gliders
D-LAAA to D-LZZZ for airships
D-MAAA to D-MZZZ for powered sports aircraft
D-NAAA to D-NZZZ for non-powered sports aircraft
D-OAAA to D-OZZZ for manned free ballons
D-0001 to D-9999 for GlidersGhana 9G 9G-AAA to 9G-ZZZ Gibraltar VP-G VP-GAA to VP-GZZ Greece SX SX-AAA to SX-ZZZ Greenland OY N2 OY-AAA to OY-ZZZ Grenada J3 J3-AAA to J3-ZZZ Guatemala TG TG-AAA to TG-ZZZ Guinea 3X 3X-AAA to 3X-ZZZ Guinea Bissau J5 J5-AAA to J5-ZZZ Guyana 8R 8R-AAA to 8R-ZZZ Haiti HH HH-AAA to HH-ZZZ Honduras HR HR-AAA to HR-ZZZ Hungary HA HA-AAA to HA-ZZZ Iceland TF TF-AAA to TF-ZZZ
TF-100 to TF-999 (Microlights)India VT VT-AAA to VT-ZZZ
VT-HAA to VT-HZZ (Helicopters)Indonesia PK PK-AAA to PK-ZZZ Iran EP EP-AAA to EP-ZZZ Iraq YI YI-AAA to YI-ZZZ Ireland EI EI-AAA to EI-ZZZ Isle of Man[7] M M-AAAA to M-ZZZZ Israel 4X 4X-AAA to 4X-ZZZ Italy I I-AAAA to I-ZZZZ Jamaica 6Y 6Y-AAA to 6Y-ZZZ Japan JA JA-0001 to JA-9999
JA-001A to JA-999Z
JA-01AA to JA-99ZZ
JA-A001 to JA-A999 (Balloons)Jordan JY JY-AAA to JY-ZZZ Kazakhstan UP UP-AAA01 to UP-ZZZ99 (Suffix letters refer to aircraft type) Kenya 5Y 5Y-AAA to 5Y-ZZZ Kiribati T3 T3-AAA to T3-ZZZ Korea, People's Democratic Rep. P P-500 to P-999 Korea, Republic of HL[8] HL0000 to HL0599 for glider
HL0600 to HL0799 for airship
HL1000 to HL1799 for piston engine
HL2000 to HL2099 for piston engine
HL5100 to HL5499 for turbo prop
HL6100 to HL6199
HL6200 to HL6299
HL7100 to HL7199 for single turbojet
HL7200 to HL7299
HL7300 to HL7399
HL7400 to HL7499
HL7500 to HL7599
HL7600 to HL7699
HL8200 to HL8299
HL8400 to HL8499
HL8600 to HL8699
HL9100 to HL9199
HL9200 to HL9299
HL9200 to HL9299
HL9300 to HL9399
HL9400 to HL9499
HL9500 to HL9599
HL9600 to HL9699Kuwait 9K 9K-AAA to 9K-ZZZ Kyrgyzstan EX EX-100 to EX-999
EX-10000 to EX-99999Laos RDPL RDPL-10000 to RDPL-99999 Latvia YL YL-AAA to YL-ZZZ Lebanon OD OD-AAA to OD-ZZZ Lesotho 7P 7P-AAA to 7P-ZZZ Liberia A8 A8-AAA to A8-ZZZ Libya 5A 5A-AAA to 5A-ZZZ Liechtenstein HB HB-AAA to HB-ZZZ (shares allocation with Switzerland) Lithuania LY LY-AAA to LY-ZZZ Luxembourg LX LX-AAA to LX-ZZZ
LX-BAA to LX-BZZ (Balloons)
LX-CAA to LX-CZZ (Glider)
LX-HAA to LX-HZZ (Helicopters)
LX-XAA to LX-XZZ (Ultralights)Macedonia Z3 Z3-AAA to Z3-ZZZ
Z3-HAA to Z3-HZZ (Helicopters)
Z3-UA-001 to Z3-UA-999 (Ultralight)
Z3-OAA to Z3-OZZ (Hot air balloons)Madagascar 5R 5R-AAA to 5R-ZZZ Malawi 7Q 7Q-AAA to 7Q-ZZZ Malaysia 9M 9M-AAA to 9M-ZZZ
9M-EAA to 9M-EZZ (Amateur-built)
9M-UAA to 9M-UZZ (Microlight)Maldives 8Q 8Q-AAA to 8Q-ZZZ Mali TZ TZ-AAA to TZ-ZZZ Malta 9H 9H-AAA to 9H-ZZZ Marshall Islands V7 V7-0001 to V7-9999 Mauritania 5T 5T-AAA to 5T-ZZZ Mauritius 3B 3B-AAA to 3B-ZZZ Mexico XA
XB
XCXA-AAA to XA-ZZZ
XB-AAA to XB-ZZZ
XC-AAA to XC-ZZZMicronesia, Federated States of V6 V6-AAA to V6-ZZZ Moldova ER ER-AAA to ER-ZZZ
ER-10000 to ER-99999Monaco 3A 3A-AAA to 3A-ZZZ
3A-HAA to 3A-HZZ (Helicopters)Mongolia JU JU-1000 to JU-9999 Montenegro 4O 4O-AAA to 4O-ZZZ Montserrat VP-M VP-MAA to VP-MZZ Morocco CN CN-AAA to CN-ZZZ Mozambique C9 C9-AAA to C9-ZZZ Myanmar XY
XZXY-AAA to XY-ZZZ
XZ-AAA to XZ-ZZZ (Not Used)Namibia V5 V5-AAA to V5-ZZZ Nauru C2 C2-AAA to C2-ZZZ Nepal 9N 9N-AAA to 9N-ZZZ Netherlands PH PH-AAA to PH-ZZZ
PH-1A1 to PH-9Z9 (Microlights)
PH-100 to PH-9999 (Gliders)Netherlands Antilles PJ PJ-AAA to PJ-ZZZ New Zealand ZK ZK-A**, ZK-B**, ZK-GA*, ZK-HA* reserved for historical aircraft including helicopters and gliders since 1987
ZK-FA*, ZK-FB* balloons
ZK-G** gliders
ZK-H**, ZK-I** helicopters
ZK-RA*, ZK-RB*, ZK-RC*, ZK-RD* gyrocopters
ZK-Q** marks are prohibited by ICAO
Remainder for fixed-wing aircraft[9]
Nicaragua YN YN-AAA to YN-ZZZ Niger 5U 5U-AAA to 5U-ZZZ Nigeria 5N 5N-AAA to 5N-ZZZ Norway LN LN-AAA to LN-ZZZ Aircraft in general, except:
LN-G**, Gliders
LN-O**, Helicopters
LN-C**, Balloons
LN-Y**, Ultralight AircraftOman A4O A4O-AA to A4O-ZZ Pakistan AP AP-AAA to AP-ZZZ Palestine SU-Y
E4SU-YAA to SU-YZZ
N1Panama HP HP-1000AA to HP-9999ZZ Papua New Guinea P2 P2-AAA to P2-ZZZ Paraguay ZP ZP-AAA to ZP-ZZZ Peru OB OB-1000 to OB-9999 Philippines RP-C RP-C0001 to RP-C9999 Poland SP,SN SP-AAA to SP-ZZZ
SP-1000 to SP-3000, SP-8000 (gliders)
SP-SAAA to SP-SZZZ (ultralights)
SN-00AA (police and border guard)Portugal CR CR-AAA to CR-ZZZ Portugal CS CS-AAA to CS-ZZZ Aircraft in general, except:
CS-H**, Helicopters
CS-X**, Experimental
CS-U**, Ultralight AircraftQatar A7 A7-AAA to A7-ZZZ Réunion Island F-OD F-ODAA to F-ODZZ Romania YR YR-AAA to YR-ZZZ
YR-1000 to YR-9999 (Gliders)Russian Federation RA RA-00001 to RA-99999
RA-0001A to RA-9999ZRussian Federation RF RF-00001 to RF-99999 (state-owned aircraft) Rwanda 9XR 9XR-AA to 9XR-ZZ Saint Helena/Ascension VQ-H VQ-HAA to VQ-HZZ Saint Kitts and Nevis V4 V4-AAA to V4-ZZZ Saint Lucia J6 J6-AAA to J6-ZZZ Saint Vincent and the Grenadines J8 J8-AAA to J8-ZZZ Samoa 5W 5W-AAA to 5W-ZZZ San Marino T7 T7-AAA to T7-ZZZ
T7-001 to T7-999 (Microlights)São Tomé and Príncipe S9 S9-AAA to S9-ZZZ Saudi Arabia HZ HZ-AAA to HZ-ZZZ
HZ-AA1 to HZ-ZZ99
HZ-AAA1 to HZ-ZZZ99
HZ-AAAA to HZ-ZZZZSenegal 6V 6V-AAA to 6V-ZZZ Serbia YU YU-AAA to YU-ZZZ Seychelles S7 S7-AAA to S7-ZZZ Sierra Leone 9L 9L-AAA to 9L-ZZZ Singapore 9V 9V-AAA to 9V-ZZZ Slovakia OM OM-AAA to OM-ZZZ
OM-AAAA to OM-ZZZZ (Ultralight)
OM-M000 to OM-M999 (Microlights)
OM-0000 to OM-9999 (Gliders)Slovenia S5 S5-AAA to S5-ZZZ
S5-HAA to S5-HZZ (Helicopters)Solomon Islands H4 H4-AAA to H4-ZZZ Somalia 6O 6O-AAA to 6O-ZZZ South Africa ZS
ZT
ZUZS-AAA to ZS-ZZZ (type certified aircraft)
ZT-AAA to ZT-ZZZ (not used)
ZU-AAA to ZU-ZZZ (non-type certified aircraft)South Sudan Spain EC EC-AAA to EC-WZZ
EC-YAA to EC-ZZZ (Homebuilt aircraft)
EC-AA0 to EC-ZZ9 (Ultralight)
EC-001 to EC-999 (Test and delivery)Sri Lanka 4R 4R-AAA to 4R-ZZZ Sudan ST ST-AAA to ST-ZZZ Surinam PZ PZ-AAA to PZ-ZZZ Swaziland 3D 3D-AAA to 3D-ZZZ Sweden SE SE-AAA to SE-ZZZ
SE-YAA to SE-VZZ ultralightsSwitzerland HB HB-AAA to HB-ZZZ
HB-1 to HB-9999 for Gliders and MotorglidersSyria YK YK-AAA to YK-ZZZ Tahiti F-OH F-OHAA to F-OHZZ Tajikistan EY EY-10000 to EY-99999 Tanzania 5H 5H-AAA to 5H-ZZZ Thailand HS HS-AAA to HS-ZZZ Togo 5V 5V-AAA to 5V-ZZZ Tonga A3 A3-AAA to A3-ZZZ Trinidad and Tobago 9Y 9Y-AAA to 9Y-ZZZ Tunisia TS TS-AAA to TS-ZZZ Turkey TC TC-AAA to TC-ZZZ Turkmenistan EZ EZ-A100 to EZ-Z999 Turks and Caicos VQ-T VQ-TAA to VQ-TZZ Tuvalu T2 T2-AAA to T2-ZZZ Uganda 5X 5X-AAA to 5X-ZZZ Ukraine UR UR-AAA to UR-ZZZ
UR-10000 to UR-99999United Arab Emirates A6 A6-AAA to A6-ZZZ United Kingdom G G-AAAA to G-ZZZZ
G-1-1 to G-99-99 (Test and delivery)
Concorde UK & US dual registration. During 1979-1980 6 British Airways Concordes (G-BOAA to G-BOAF) were re-registered G-N49AA, G-N94AB, G-N81AC, G-N94AD, G-N94AE, G-N94AF for temporary sale and use by Braniff Airways and temporary U.S. registration (with "G-" taped over during Braniff use). After end of Braniff operation in 1980 Concordes reverted to G-BOA_ registration. Final letter of registration stayed throughout.United Nations 4U 4U-AAA to 4U-ZZZ United States of America N N1 to N99999
N1A to N9999Z
N1AA to N999ZZUruguay CX CX-AAA to CX-ZZZ Uzbekistan UK UK-10000 to UK-99999 Vanuatu YJ YJ-AA1 to YJ-ZZ99 Venezuela YV YV0001 to YV9999
YV-0001A to YV-9999P
YV-AAA1 to YV-ZZZ9 (Official use)Vietnam VN VN-1000 to VN-9999
VN-A100 to VN-A999Yemen 7O 7O-AAA to 7O-ZZZ Zambia 9J 9J-AAA to 9J-ZZZ Zimbabwe Z Z-AAA to Z-ZZZ Notes
- ^ Has not been used on any aircraft previously.
- ^ OY-Hab is reserved for helicopters, OY-Xab is for gliders only and OY-Bab is preferred for hot-air balloons.
Pre-1928 Allocations
Note: in the suffix pattern, n represents a number, x represents a letter
Country / Region Registration Prefix Suffix Pattern 1913 radio call letters Abyssinia A-B[Note 11] A-Bxxx Afghanistan Y-A[Note 13] Y-Axxx Albania B-A[Note 6] B-Axxx Argentina R-A[Note 9] R-Axxx LIA to LRZ Australia G-AU[10] G-AUxx VHA to VKZ Austria-Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina HAA to HFZ, OGA to OMZ and UNA to UZZ Belgium O-B[Note 1] O-Bxxx ONA to OTZ Bolivia C-B[Note 1] C-Bxxx none Brazil P-B[Note 1] P-Bxxx SNA to STZ Canada G-C[10] G-Cxxx, except G-CYxx VAA to VGZ (Newfoundland: VOA to VOZ) G-CY (military aircraft)[10] G-CYxx Bulgaria B-B[Note 6] B-Bxxx LXA to LZZ Chile B-C[Note 10] B-Cxxx COA to CPZ China X-C[Note 1] X-Cxxx none Colombia C- C-n to C-nnn none Costa Rica K-C[Note 6] K-Cxxx Cuba C-C[Note 1] C-Cxxx none Czechoslovakia L-B[Note 1] L-Bxxx Danzig Y-M[Note 11] Y-Mxxx Not applicable Dz- Dz-nnn Denmark T-D[Note 4] T-Dxxx OUA to OZZ Dominica Z-D[Note 13] Z-Dxxx Ecuador E-E[Note 1][Note 5] E-Exxx Egypt SUA to SUZ El Salvador Y-S[Note 12] Y-Sxxx Estonia E-A[Note 8] E-Axxx Finland K-S[Note 8] K-Sxxx France F-[Note 1] F-xxxx F and UAA to UMZ Germany D- D-nnnn A, D and KAA to KCZ Greece S-G[Note 1] S-Gxxx SVA to SZZ Guatemala L-G[Note 1] L-Gxxx Haiti H-H[Note 1][Note 5] H-Hxxx Hedjaz A-H[Note 1] A-Hxxx Honduras X-H[Note 1] X-Hxxx Hungary H-H[Note 4] H-Hxxx H-O[Note 7] H-Oxxx India G-I[10] G-Ixxx VTA to VWZ Italy I-[Note 1] I-xxxx I Japan J-[Note 1] J-xxxx J Latvia B-L[Note 3] B-Lxxx Liberia L-L[Note 1] L-Lxxx Lithuania Z-L[Note 8] Z-Lxxx Luxembourg L-U[Note 3] L-Uxxx Mexico XAA to XCZ Monaco M-M[Note 4] M-Mxxx CQA to CQZ M-O[Note 7] M-Oxxx Morocco CNA to CNZ Netherlands H-N[Note 2] H-Nxxx PAA to PMZ New Zealand G-NZ[10] G-NZxx VLA to VMZ Nicaragura A-N[Note 1] A-Nxxx Norway LAA to LHZ Panama S-P[Note 1] S-Pxxx Persia P-I[Note 11] P-Ixxx Peru O-P[Note 1] O-Pxxx Poland P-P[Note 1] P-Pxxx Portugal C-P[Note 1] C-Pxxx CRA to CTZ Romania C-R[Note 1] C-Rxxx CVA to CVZ Russia R Serbia-Croatia-Slavonia X-S[Note 1] X-Sxxx Siam H-S[Note 1] H-Sxxx HGA to HHZ South Africa G-UA[10] G-UAxx VNA to VNZ Spain M-[Note 2] M-xxxx EAA to EGZ Sweden S-A[Note 6] S-Axxx SAA to SMZ Switzerland C-H[Note 2] C-Hnnn United States of America N[Note 1] N-xxxx KDA to KZZ, N and W United Kingdom K[11] K-nnn B, G and M (British colonies not autonomous: VPA to VSZ) G-E G-EAxx, G-EBxx, G-EDCA G-F (lighter than air craft) G-FAAx G-G (gliders) G-GAAx Uruguay C-U[Note 1][Note 5] C-Uxxx CWA to CWZ - Notes
- ^ Adopted at the International Commission for Air Navigation (ICAN) meeting of 13 October 1919.[12]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 13 July 1922.[13]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 25 October 1922.[13]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 28 February 1923.[13]
- ^ The ICAN meeting of 28 February 1923 amended Ecuador's marks to E-U, Haiti's to H-E, and Uruguay's marks to C-M. They were restored to their original marks at the following meeting on 26 June.[13]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 26 June 1923.[13]
- ^ Amended at the ICAN meeting of 26 June 1923.[13]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 3 March 1924.[13]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 14 October 1924.[13]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 6 April 1925.[13]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 6 October 1925.[13]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 3 November 1926.[13]
- ^ Adopted at the ICAN meeting of 25 April 1927.[13]
See also
- Belgium aircraft registration and serials
- List of aircraft by tail number
- Tail Code
- Serial number
- United Kingdom aircraft registration
- United Kingdom military aircraft serials
- United States military aircraft serials
References
- ^ N3794N
- ^ a b c d FAA registration numbering scheme
- ^ [1], [2] and [3]
- ^ Tupolev Tu-154 Monography, Dimitry Komissarov, Aerofax 2007 (ISBN 1-85780-241-1)
- ^ [4]
- ^ Decree No. 155/2005 Coll. of the Ministry of Informatics of the Czech Republic, § 9 (3)h)
- ^ ITU code 'M' is registered to the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man is not a sovereign entity in international law.
- ^ Civil Aircraft Safety Authority (in Korean)
- ^ "Allocation of Aircraft Registration Marks". Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. http://www.caa.govt.nz/aircraft/Allocation_Registration_Marks.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
- ^ a b c d e f Appleton, John; Cave, Ian G. British Civil Aircraft Registers 1919-1978. Earl Shilton: Midland Counties Publications. p. p7. ISBN 0-904597-15-6.
- ^ Used 1919-20, K-100 to K-175 allocated, reallocated to G-EAxx series in 1920. Appleton, John; Cave, Ian G. British Civil Aircraft Registers 1919-1978. Earl Shilton: Midland Counties Publications. p. p3. ISBN 0-904597-15-6.
- ^ "1919 Country Prefixes". Golden Years of Aviation. http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_1919.htm. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Additions to Registration marks 1919-1927". Golden Years of Aviation. http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_1919-27.htm. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
External links
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