The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has formally requested the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to review the three-letter location code, QRW, assigned to Osubi Airport in Delta State.

Keyamo in a statement yesterday by his Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Tunde Moshood, said the airport’s code should better reflect its official name and geographical location.

The minister has however  proposed new codes to IATA by which the airport could be identified.

The statement hinted that the request was contained in a letter personally signed by the minister addressed to IATA’s Area Manager for West and Central Africa, Dr Samuel Fatokun.

He said that the request could lead to the adoption of a new IATA code for the airport, subject to the association’s coding procedures and availability of suitable combinations.

Osubi Airport, located in Osubi town near Warri, has the four-letter International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) location indicator DNSU.

However, its IATA code, QRW, is commonly associated with the Warri identity, resulting in the airport sometimes being referred to as Warri Airport.

The statement maintained that the Federal government was seeking to draw a clear distinction between Osubi and Warri, arguing that the airport’s official and geographical identity was Osubi.

According to the minister, the continued use of QRW did not sufficiently correspond with the airport’s actual name and physical location.

Among the codes proposed for IATA’s consideration are OSU, OSB, SUB and QSB.

Keyamo, however, said that the final designation would be determined by IATA in accordance with its established coding standards and the availability of the preferred combinations.

Keyamo said aligning the airport’s IATA code with its official name and location would enhance the airport’s identity and eliminate possible ambiguity for passengers, airlines and other stakeholders.
He added that such alignment would also promote consistency across aviation and travel systems, including ticketing, baggage handling, passenger information and other related platforms.

Besides, the minister has ordered airlines operating flights to and from the airport to ensure that passenger-facing documents, including flight tickets, luggage tags and boarding passes, appropriately identify the facility as Osubi, Delta State.

He also directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and other relevant aviation agencies to ensure that the airport’s proper designation was consistently reflected in their systems, records, publications and operational interfaces.

The directive is expected to affect how the airport is identified across various aviation and passenger-handling processes, particularly as airlines and aviation agencies continue to rely heavily on standardised location codes in their operations.

Keyamo stressed that the move was not intended to undermine Osubi Airport’s role in serving the Warri metropolitan area, but rather to ensure geographical and operational accuracy in the identification of the facility.

The minister said: “Osubi is not Warri and Warri is not Osubi.”