Why Yyt?

[Dusty Bin]

The IATA code for St. John's International Airport, Newfoundland, Canada is YYT. Why?

[heathfield]

All Canadian airport codes start with the letter 'Y' - Canada was late on the 3-letter designation scheme, and it was just about the only letter left. Many have the two additional letters derived from their postcode, but 'YT' is a postcode for 'Yukon Territory'!
Some info here...

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_the_Y_at_the_start_of_all_the_Canadian_iata_airport_codes_ex._YVR_Vancouver_YEG_for_Edmonton_stand_for

[Clanad]

Actually, my thumb worn copy of Canadian IFR (instrument flight rules) ground school course text written by Micheal Culhane, says:

"Although the naming of Canadian airports and weather stations can seem confusing, here is a brief explanation. Originally, in the 1930's, Canada used two letters for identification of a weather reporting station. Additionally, preceding the 2-letter code, was placed a Y (meaning "yes") where the reporting station was co-located with an airport, a W (meaning "without") where the reporting station was not co-located with an airport, and a U where the reporting station was co-located with an NDB. An X was used if hte last two letters of the code had already been taken by another Canadian ident, and a Z was used if the locator could be confused with a U.S. three letter ident. ... The ICAO names are in a 4 letter format starting with a C for Canadian airports." (section 2.18 pg 64)"

For those of a pedantic bent...

[stewey]

Also "YT" is not the postal code for the Yukon: it is an abbreviation as is "ON" for Ontario. Our postal codes are in the format A1B 2C3.

[heathfield]

You're right of course Stewey. I should have said 'postal abbreviation' instead of 'postal code'.

[Dusty Bin]

Ok, so now I understand the first 'Y' and that the 'T' is derived fom the area of St John's where the airport is located, namely Torbay, but the second 'Y' - because the airport has a weather reporting station - really???