I would like to find a list of every major airport in the world which
furthermore goes on to list every major airport in the world which you
can fly to from that airport.

For example, this might take the form of a matrix with a list of
airports down the side and an identical list across the top with a
tick or cross indicating whether there exists a route which services
any two airports at their intersection in the matrix.

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Request for Question Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 11 Dec 2003 13:14 PST

Greetings, dan!

There are around 10,000 assigned airport codes in the world. While
some of the airports have more than one assigned code, you can still
imagine the size of such a matrix (10,000 x 10,000 = 10,000,000 -- ten
MILLION combinations!) Even factoring for duplications and the
airports which cannot be reached from each other in one stop, the
quantity will still be enormous.

Furthermore, many airports are small, private airports which have no
"scheduled" flights and from which pilots can fly to anywhere they
choose -- are you looking to include these, or only those airports
which actually have airlines with scheduled flights? Then there is the
fact that the list would be constantly changing as airlines decide to
add service to new airports or suspend currently-existing service to
airports.

You can see what kind of logistical problems might be encountered in
compiling such a list.

You can purchase a comprehensive list of airport codes (without
connecting airport information) for $2,320.00:
https://www.iataonline.com/Store/Products/Product+Detail.htm?cs_id=9119%2D00&cs_catalog=Publications

Would you be willing to accept a fairly comprehensive list of around
10,000 airport codes as an Answer?

Regards,

aceresearcher

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Request for Question Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 11 Dec 2003 13:31 PST

Okay, my math's way off today.

That's 100,000,000 combinations.

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Clarification of Question by danwinchester-ga on 12 Dec 2003 05:56 PST

I am only looking for major airports, which, for the purposes of this
question, I would define as airports running scheduled flights
provided by airlines and available to individual members of the
public.

I accept that the list would change regularly.

I would not be willing to accept a fairly comprehenive list of airport
codes as an answer - I would definitely require comprehensive
information on which major airports any one major airport were linked
to by means of a scheduled airline flight. I would require this
information for every major airport.

Interestingly, I just read an article the other day about a company
which publishes airline flight schedules.

The company is OAG, and they produce an array of products from
$75/year subscriptions for monthly pocket-sized flight schedules, to
$200 CD-ROMs that offer searchable scheduling information for airports
worldwide, to specialized XML data feeds for those who need
non-standard data.

I tried to call them to find pricing for the specific service you've
mentioned, but their office is closed on weekends.

A list of their consumer products is detailed at:
     http://www.oag.com/product_catalog/search_results.asp?search_type=all

Of particular note is the CD-ROM entitled "OAG Flight Planner? for
Windows".  What isn't clear from their web site is if the CD-ROM's
data is available in raw form, acessible outside of its searching
application.

In contrast to their consumer products division, the "OAG Data" group
can provide specialized feeds (in XML, etc.) based on your needs:
     http://oagdata.com/solutions/schedules.aspx

Pricing for the data feeds is based on your needs.

To contact OAG, dial 1 (888) 589-6340, M-F 8am-5pm.

From what's been mentioned elsewhere on their site, if you call at
times not during business hours, their phone system will try to route
you to their British office, assuming it is open at that time.

Additional contact information is available here:
     http://www.oag.com/current_subscribers/customer_service/cs_serv_contact_info.asp


Please let me know if I can be of any more assistance.  If you'd like
me to contact OAG on Monday to find pricing details, please let me
know, and I can report back to you.

--Joey


searching strategy:

"OAG" (based on personal knowledge)