Dataset formats @ OurAirports

This page documents the columns used in the open-data datasets described on the Downloads page. There is more information there about using the data, including terms of use, and working around Microsoft Excel's UTF-8 handling for CSV files.

All of the following datasets use the comma-separated values (CSV) format, and UTF-8 character encoding.

Dataset: airports.csv

Each row in this dataset represents the record for a single airport. The primary key for interoperability purposes with other datasets is ident, but the actual internal OurAirports primary key is id. iso_region is a foreign key into the regions.csv download file.

Column	Sample value	Description
id	2434	Internal OurAirports integer identifier for the airport. This will stay persistent, even if the airport code changes.
ident	EGLL	The text identifier used in the OurAirports URL. This will be the ICAO code if available. Otherwise, it will be a local airport code (if no conflict), or if nothing else is available, an internally-generated code starting with the ISO2 country code, followed by a dash and a four-digit number.
type	large_airport	The type of the airport. Allowed values are "closed_airport", "heliport", "large_airport", "medium_airport", "seaplane_base", and "small_airport". See the map legend for a definition of each type.
name	London Heathrow Airport	The official airport name, including "Airport", "Airstrip", etc.
latitude_deg	51.470600	The airport latitude in decimal degrees (positive for north).
longitude_deg	-0.461941	The airport longitude in decimal degrees (positive for east).
elevation_ft	83	The airport elevation MSL in feet (not metres).
continent	EU	The code for the continent where the airport is (primarily) located. Allowed values are "AF" (Africa), "AN" (Antarctica), "AS" (Asia), "EU" (Europe), "NA" (North America), "OC" (Oceania), or "SA" (South America).
iso_country	GB	The two-character ISO 3166:1-alpha2 code for the country where the airport is (primarily) located. A handful of unofficial, non-ISO codes are also in use, such as "XK" for Kosovo. Points to the `code` column in countries.csv.
iso_region	GB-ENG	An alphanumeric code for the high-level administrative subdivision of a country where the airport is primarily located (e.g. province, governorate), prefixed by the ISO2 country code and a hyphen. OurAirports uses ISO 3166:2 codes whenever possible, preferring higher administrative levels, but also includes some custom codes. See the documentation for regions.csv.
municipality	London	The primary municipality that the airport serves (when available). Note that this is not necessarily the municipality where the airport is physically located.
scheduled_service	yes	"yes" if the airport currently has scheduled airline service; "no" otherwise.
gps_code	EGLL	The code that an aviation GPS database (such as Jeppesen's or Garmin's) would normally use for the airport. This will always be the ICAO code if one exists. Note that, unlike the `ident` column, this is not guaranteed to be globally unique.
iata_code	LHR	The three-letter IATA code for the airport (if it has one).
local_code		The local country code for the airport, if different from the `gps_code` and `iata_code` fields (used mainly for US airports).
home_link	http://www.heathrowairport.com/	URL of the airport's official home page on the web, if one exists.
wikipedia_link	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Airport	URL of the airport's page on Wikipedia, if one exists.
keywords	LON, Londres	Extra keywords/phrases to assist with search, comma-separated. May include former names for the airport, alternate codes, names in other languages, nearby tourist destinations, etc.

Dataset: airport-frequencies.csv

Each row in this dataset represents a single airport radio frequency for voice communication (radio navigation aids appear in navaids.csv). The column airport_ident is a foreign key referencing the ident column in airports.csv for the associated airport.

Column	Sample value	Description
id	54836	Internal OurAirports integer identifier for the frequency. This will stay persistent, even if the radio frequency or description changes.
airport_ref	3206	Internal integer foreign key matching the `id` column for the associated airport in airports.csv. (`airport_ident` is a better alternative.)
airport_ident	HKJK	Externally-visible string foreign key matching the `ident` column for the associated airport in airports.csv.
type	TWR	A code for the frequency type. This isn't (currently) a controlled vocabulary, but probably will be soon. Some common values are "TWR" (tower), "ATF" or "CTAF" (common traffic frequency), "GND" (ground control), "RMP" (ramp control), "ATIS" (automated weather), "RCO" (remote radio outlet), "ARR" (arrivals), "DEP" (departures), "UNICOM" (monitored ground station), and "RDO" (a flight-service station).
description	Nairobi tower	A description of the frequency, typically the way a pilot would open a call on it.
frequency_mhz	118.7	Radio voice frequency in megahertz. Note that the same frequency may appear multiple times for an airport, serving different functions.

Dataset: runways.csv

Each row in this dataset represents a single airport landing surface (runway, helipad, or waterway). The initial fields apply to the entire surface, in both directions. Fields beginning with le_* apply only to the low-numbered end of the runway (e.g. 09), while fields beginning with he_* apply only to the high-numbered end of the runway (e.g. 27).

Column	Sample value	Description
id	234512	Internal OurAirports integer identifier for the runway. This will stay persistent, even if the runway numbering changes.
airport_ref	1941	Internal integer foreign key matching the `id` column for the associated airport in airports.csv. (`airport_ident` is a better alternative.)
airport_ident	CYVR	Externally-visible string foreign key matching the `ident` column for the associated airport in airports.csv.
length_ft	9940	Length of the full runway surface (including displaced thresholds, overrun areas, etc) in feet.
width_ft	200	Width of the runway surface in feet.
surface	CON	Code for the runway surface type. This is not yet a controlled vocabulary, but probably will be soon. Some common values include "ASP" (asphalt), "TURF" (turf), "CON" (concrete), "GRS" (grass), "GRE" (gravel), "WATER" (water), and "UNK" (unknown).
lighted	1	1 if the surface is lighted at night, 0 otherwise. (Note that this is inconsistent with airports.csv, which uses "yes" and "no" instead of 1 and 0.)
closed	0	1 if the runway surface is currently closed, 0 otherwise.
le_ident	08L	Identifier for the low-numbered end of the runway.
le_latitude_deg	49.205000	Latitude of the centre of the low-numbered end of the runway, in decimal degrees (positive is north), if available.
le_longitude_deg	-123.201000	Longitude of the centre of the low-numbered end of the runway, in decimal degrees (positive is east), if available.
le_elevation_ft	14	Elevation above MSL of the low-numbered end of the runway in feet.
le_heading_degT	99	Heading of the low-numbered end of the runway in degrees true (not magnetic).
le_displaced_threshold_ft		Length of the displaced threshold (if any) for the low-numbered end of the runway, in feet.
he_ident	26R	Identifier for the high-numbered end of the runway.
he_latitude_deg	49.200600	Latitude of the centre of the high-numbered end of the runway, in decimal degrees (positive is north), if available.
he_longitude_deg	-123.160000	Longitude of the centre of the high-numbered end of the runway, in decimal degrees (positive is east), if available.
he_elevation_ft	9	Elevation above MSL of the high-numbered end of the runway in feet.
he_heading_degT	279	Heading of the high-numbered end of the runway in degrees true (not magnetic).
he_displaced_threshold_ft		Length of the displaced threshold (if any) for the high-numbered end of the runway, in feet.

Dataset: navaids.csv

Each row in this dataset represents a single radio navigation. When the navaid is associated with an airport, the associated_airport field links to the ident field in airports.csv.

Column	Sample value	Description
id	86738	Internal OurAirports integer identifier for the navaid. This will stay persistent, even if the navaid identifier or frequency changes.
filename	Christchurch_VOR-DME_NZ	This is a unique string identifier constructed from the navaid name and country, and used in the OurAirports URL.
ident	CH	The 1-3 character identifer that the navaid transmits.
name	Christchurch	The name of the navaid, excluding its type.
type	VOR-DME	The type of the navaid. Options are "DME", "NDB", "NDB-DME", "TACAN", "VOR", "VOR-DME", or "VORTAC". See the map legend for more information about each type.
frequency_khz	115300	The frequency of the navaid in kilohertz. If the Navaid operates on the VHF band (VOR, VOR-DME) or operates on the UHF band with a paired VHF frequency (DME, TACAN, VORTAC), the you need to divide this number by 1,000 to get the frequency in megahertz (115.3 MHz in this example). For an NDB or NDB-DME, you can use this frequency directly.
latitude_deg	-43.504101	The latitude of the navaid in decimal degrees (negative for south).
longitude_deg	172.514999	The longitude of the navaid in decimal degrees (negative for west).
elevation_ft	123	The navaid's elevation MSL in feet (not metres).
iso_country	NZ	The two-character ISO 3166:1-alpha2 code for the country that operates the navaid. A handful of unofficial, non-ISO codes are also in use, such as "XK" for Kosovo.
dme_frequency_khz	115300	The paired VHF frequency for the DME (or TACAN) in kilohertz. Divide by 1,000 to get the paired VHF frequency in megahertz (e.g. 115.3 MHz).
dme_channel	100X	The DME channel (an alternative way of tuning distance-measuring equipment).
dme_latitude_deg	-43.504200	The latitude of the associated DME in decimal degrees (negative for south). If missing, assume that the value is the same as `latitude_deg`.
dme_longitude_deg	172.515000	The longitude of the associated DME in decimal degrees (negative for west). If missing, assume that the value is the same as `longitude_deg`.
dme_elevation_ft	140	The associated DME transmitters elevation MSL in feet. If missing, assume that it's the same value as `elevation_ft`.
slaved_variation_deg	23.007	The magnetic variation adjustment built into a VOR's, VOR-DME's, or TACAN's radials. Positive means east (added to the true direction), and negative means west (subtracted from the true direction). This will not usually be the same as `magnetic-variation` because the magnetic pole is constantly in motion.
magnetic_variation_deg	23.188	The actual magnetic variation at the navaid's location. Positive means east (added to the true direction), and negative means west (subtracted from the true direction).
usageType	BOTH	The primary function of the navaid in the airspace system. Options include "HI" (high-altitude airways, at or above flight level 180), "LO" (low-altitude airways), "BOTH" (high- and low-altitude airways), "TERM" (terminal-area navigation only), and "RNAV" (non-GPS area navigation).
power	HIGH	The power-output level of the navaid. Options include "HIGH", "MEDIUM", "LOW", and "UNKNOWN".
associated_airport	NZCH	The OurAirports text identifier (usually the ICAO code) for an airport associated with the navaid. Links to the `ident` column in airports.csv.

Dataset: countries.csv

Each row represents a country or country-like entity (e.g. Hong Kong). The iso_country column in airports.csv, navaids.csv, and regions.csv refer to the code column here.

Column	Sample value	Description
id	302791	Internal OurAirports integer identifier for the country. This will stay persistent, even if the country name or code changes.
code	BR	The two-character ISO 3166:1-alpha2 code for the country. A handful of unofficial, non-ISO codes are also in use, such as "XK" for Kosovo. The `iso_country` field in airports.csv points into this column.
name	Brazil	The common English-language name for the country. Other variations of the name may appear in the `keywords` field to assist with search.
continent	SA	The code for the continent where the country is (primarily) located. See the `continent` code in airports.csv for allowed values.
wikipedia_link	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil	Link to the Wikipedia article about the country.
keywords	Brasil, Brasilian	A comma-separated list of search keywords/phrases related to the country.

Dataset: regions.csv

Each row represents a high-level administrative subdivision of a country. The iso_region column in airports.csv links to the code column in this dataset.

Column	Sample value	Description
id	306408	Internal OurAirports integer identifier for the region. This will stay persistent, even if the region code changes.
code	GE-KA	`local_code` prefixed with the country code to make a globally-unique identifier.
local_code	KA	The local code for the administrative subdivision. Whenever possible, these are official ISO 3166:2, at the highest level available, but in some cases OurAirports has to use unofficial codes. There is also a pseudo code "U-A" for each country, which means that the airport has not yet been assigned to a region (or perhaps can't be, as in the case of a deep-sea oil platform).
name	Kakheti	The common English-language name for the administrative subdivision. In some cases, the name in local languages will appear in the `keywords` field assist search.
continent	AS	A code for the continent to which the region belongs. See the `continent` field in airports.csv for a list of codes.
iso_country	GE	The two-character ISO 3166:1-alpha2 code for the country containing the administrative subdivision. A handful of unofficial, non-ISO codes are also in use, such as "XK" for Kosovo.
wikipedia_link	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakheti	A link to the Wikipedia article describing the subdivision.
keywords	Kakhet'i, კახეთი	A comma-separated list of keywords to assist with search. May include former names for the region, and/or the region name in other languages.