Moldova's Main Airport Officially Adopts New 'Derussified' International Code

From January 18, Chisinau Airport has fully implemented the new code RMO in the International Air Transport Association (IATA) system. All airport flights will now be identified by the code RMO, representing "Republic of Moldova," replacing the previous code KIV derived from the Russian spelling of the country's capital, Chisinau, as reported by Newsmaker.

The announcement of the main airport in Moldova changing its code was made in December. In the weeks following this news, there were several instances of technical ticketing issues for Chisinau-bound flights. For example, WizzAir experienced erroneous cancellations for dates after January 15. Temporary difficulties were also encountered in purchasing tickets for Turkish Airlines flights.

However, it is currently unknown whether these challenges were directly related to the upcoming change in Chisinau Airport's code. In case of ticket purchase difficulties due to the code change, the airport administration recommends contacting the customer support of the respective airlines.

The airport code change is unique in the aviation industry, as it is prohibited by the International Air Transport Association rules. Moldova's government had been attempting this change for a year to eliminate the Russian marker associated with the country's main airport – ultimately achieving success.

According to Ukrainian media reports, Moldova is now ready to transfer the KIV code to one of the Kyiv airports – Igor Sikorsky International Airport. It currently has the IATA code IEV, also derived from the Russian version of the city name, "Kiev".

Earlier, The Gaze reported that starting January 8, 2024, the Lufthansa Group, including Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian Airlines, resumed flights to and from Tel Aviv after a three-month hiatus. Meanwhile, six other major international airlines – Air France, Bulgaria Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Vueling, Transavia, and TUS Airways – plan to follow suit in January. Currently, the Lufthansa Group operates 20 flights per week to Israel, only a third of the pre-Hamas terrorist attack flight schedule.

Low-cost carriers such as EasyJet, Wizz Air, and Ryanair have not yet made decisions regarding their return to Israel. For instance, Wizz Air has already canceled all flights to Israel until March 2024. American airlines, including Delta, American, and United, also remain silent on the potential resumption of flights to Israel.