Indian airport will not change its “GAY” code

Despite consternation from a member of India’s conservative Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the international airport code for Gaya International Airport is still very GAY.

Bhim Singh, a legislator in India’s upper parliamentary house Rajya Sabha, recently submitted a written inquiry to the government asking to change Gaya International Airport’s three-letter code from GAY. “[P]eople consider [the code] socially and culturally offensive and uncomfortable,” Singh claimed in his inquiry, asking if the government had considered moving “to a more respectful and culturally appropriate code.”

In a written response issued August 4, Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Murlidhar Mohol confirmed that the ministry had received similar requests in the past, but that there were no plans to change the code. Three-letter airport codes are not set by countries’ governments, but are rather unique identifiers issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), as Mohol noted. (Other notably fun codes include Poços de Caldas Airport in Brazil, ignobly designated POO.)

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