Transportation & Travel Abbreviations

661 abbreviations in 7 subcategories

Aviation terms, airport and airline codes, automotive features, driving and licensing, rail, transit and maritime abbreviations. Codes such as LAX or DFW are assigned by IATA and appear on every boarding pass and baggage tag.

• Airport Code
• Aviation
• Automotive
• Airline Code
• Rail and Transit
• Maritime
• Driving

Airport Code Abbreviations

Three-letter IATA airport codes for the busiest and most-searched airports in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. IATA codes appear on tickets, boarding passes, baggage tags and departure boards, while pilots and air traffic controllers use separate four-letter ICAO codes, which are noted on each page. Many codes are obvious abbreviations of the city name, but others preserve the names of old airfields, military bases or radio stations.

All 170 airport code abbreviations →

Aviation Abbreviations

Abbreviations used by pilots, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, mechanics and aviation weather services, from flight rules (IFR, VFR) and navigation aids (VOR, ILS) to pilot certificates, aircraft systems, V-speeds and airline operations. Most follow ICAO or FAA conventions and appear on charts, NOTAMs, weather reports, logbooks and cockpit radio calls. Where US (FAA) and international (ICAO, EASA) usage differ, the entries say so.

All 142 aviation abbreviations →

Automotive Abbreviations

Abbreviations found on car window stickers, spec sheets, dashboards, repair orders and buying guides: drivetrains (AWD, 4WD), body styles (SUV, CUV), transmissions (CVT, DCT), engines, electrified powertrains (EV, PHEV), diagnostics (OBD-II, DTC), driver-assistance features (ACC, AEB) and terms used when buying a car (VIN, MSRP). Usage follows US conventions, with British and European equivalents noted where they differ. Brand-specific badges are included only where the expansion is documented by the manufacturer.

All 116 automotive abbreviations →

Airline Code Abbreviations

Two-character IATA airline designators for major passenger airlines in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, Latin America and Africa. These codes form the prefix of every flight number (AA 100, BA 117) and appear on tickets, boarding passes and departure boards; pilots and controllers instead use three-letter ICAO codes and spoken radio callsigns, which are noted on each page. Designators can combine letters and digits (B6, U2, 6E) because the supply of two-letter pairs ran out.

All 60 airline code abbreviations →

Rail and Transit Abbreviations

Abbreviations for subway, commuter rail, light rail, bus and intercity rail operators in North America, Europe and Asia, together with railway technology terms, freight railroads and the booking codes printed on Indian Railways tickets. Transit agencies are almost always known by their initials, and many riders use nicknames such as "the T" or "the L" instead of the official names, which are explained on each page.

All 78 rail and transit abbreviations →

Maritime Abbreviations

Abbreviations used for ship name prefixes (USS, HMS, MV), tonnage and container measures (TEU, DWT, GT), international maritime conventions (SOLAS, MARPOL, COLREGS), navigation and safety equipment (AIS, EPIRB) and the shipping trade. Tonnage figures are easy to confuse: gross tonnage measures a ship's enclosed volume, while deadweight measures the weight it can carry. Many of these terms appear in vessel-tracking apps, port notices and news coverage of shipping incidents.

All 61 maritime abbreviations →

Driving Abbreviations

Abbreviations drivers meet when licensing, registering and insuring a vehicle, reading road signs and route numbers, driving commercially or taking a car abroad. US motor vehicle agencies go by different names in different states (DMV, BMV, MVD, RMV), and British terms such as DVLA and MOT are included. Alcohol-related driving offenses such as DUI and DWI are covered under police abbreviations.

All 54 driving abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.