Template talk:ICAO

Useful for travellers?

I appreciate this esoteric code is of interest to anoraks and private pilots flying into obscure strips that don't have a three letter IATA code but

1) is it really useful to show it for such destinations as SIN, KIX, LAX, LHR, MUC, GLA etc

2) does it do anything apart from add a "policy busting", in-line (not clearly signalled) external link to a Wikipedia article explaining "ICAO", bar-separation and then the 4 letter code and some boldening?

Why is it so useful to travellers to have these multiple links to wikipedia in many articles telling them "The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), pronounced /aɪˈkeɪoʊ/, (French: Organisation de l'aviation civile internationale, OACI), is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth. Its headquarters are located in the Quartier International of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation,..."

Usually templates are either labour saving or provide some additional utility. --W. Frank^e-mail_talk 15:35, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

+1. I don't think this template adds any value to a travel guide, and I'm going to propose this for deletion unless there are objections. Jpatokal (talk) 03:29, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

If an airport has an an IATA code then there is really no need for the ICAO code as well. However in some countries such as Papua New Guinea the ICAO code is still very important for getting around. (This is an assumption, I haven't personally flown there). Could we just adapt WV to leave this template for those tiny airstrips that may be of use? Andrewssi2 (talk) 03:39, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Airports without IATA codes are awfully thin on the ground, a quick scan on OpenFlights finds that 56 of 57 airports/airstrips in PNG have them. Jpatokal (talk) 09:55, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Isn't the ICAO code in practice just used by pilots and flight control towers and other professionals in the field? I can't remember seeing anything else than the IATA code on flight schedules, so we could very well delete it. (Fun fact: w:Ercan International Airport on Northern Cyprus has neither (more exactly they don't appear on official lists), but there are still passenger flights to it.) ϒpsilon (talk) 10:10, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Theyŕe needed to land UFOs at Area 51 (w:Area 51, ICAO:KXTA) which has no IATA tags. K7L (talk) 14:53, 16 January 2014 (UTC)