ICAO code hints
We have (or we target to have) all official ICAO codes www.icao.int of in the database. The ICAO database is one of our main references.
- Sometime it is hard to understand "why" or "why not" ICAO creates a new entry for a certain aircraft type.
- Some entries of the ICAO database are duplicates of others entries. This seems to have technical reasons and we will try to eliminate those duplicates (if they are reported).
- Rule of thumb: "All entries of www.icao.int minus duplicates" are supposed to be in the swift DB
IATA codes: There are cases where IATA distinguishes two aircraft types, while ICAO does not. This means IATA uses are more detailed scheme and we (normally) create those extra entries.
Code descriptions:
We have 3 description fields which can be used to describe the aircraft. As those fields are searchable such descriptions will help to find the most appropriate entry.
Normally we will use those fields to provide the company aircraft types.
In cases where there are more detailed company codes (more detailed than the ICAO and IATA entries) we need to decide on a "case by case" basis if it makes sense to create multiple entries, or rather use one of the existing entries. This decision depends on many factors:
- Is there a visual difference among those company types?
- Is that aircraft frequently used in flight simulation?
- Are many distributions supporting this aircraft?
Remark: As it is easier to later merge entries (than to split them), sometimes it makes sense to create a new entry if not 100% sure.
::: {.note} ::: {.title} Note :::
The above explains why we use a review process to create new ICAO codes :::