The aviation minister wants IATA to review Osubi Airport’s QRW designation, arguing that its current code does not accurately reflect the airport’s official name or physical location…..
The Federal Government has begun moves to secure a new international airport code for Osubi Airport in Delta State, with Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo asking the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to review the facility’s existing designation, QRW.
The request was contained in a letter signed by Keyamo and addressed to IATA’s Area Manager for West and Central Africa, Samuel Fatokun.
The minister’s intervention is centred on what the government considers a mismatch between the airport’s official identity and the three-letter code currently used across passenger and airline systems.
Osubi Airport is physically located in Osubi town, near Warri, although it is commonly associated with Warri because of the important role it plays in connecting the Warri metropolitan area to other destinations.
The airport’s ICAO location indicator is DNSU, while QRW is the IATA code used for commercial and passenger-related purposes.
According to the minister, retaining QRW risks reinforcing the impression that the airport is geographically located in Warri, rather than Osubi.
Keyamo has consequently asked IATA to begin the process of reviewing the existing code and consider a replacement that more clearly corresponds with the airport’s official name and location.
Among the codes proposed for IATA’s consideration are OSU, OSB, SUB and QSB. However, none of the alternatives has been approved as the airport’s new code, as the final decision will depend on IATA’s established procedures and the availability of the proposed combinations.
The minister said a code that better reflects Osubi’s identity would help improve consistency across the aviation and travel industries.
Such a change could affect a wide range of passenger-facing and operational systems, including airline tickets, baggage tags, boarding passes, travel databases and other aviation information platforms.
The Federal Government also wants the airport’s name to be presented consistently across documents and systems.
Keyamo has therefore directed airlines operating flights to and from the airport to ensure that passenger documents, including tickets, luggage tags and boarding passes, properly identify the facility as Osubi, Delta State.
He has similarly directed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and other relevant aviation bodies to reflect the designation across their records, publications, systems and operational interfaces.
The minister stressed that the move is not intended to diminish Osubi Airport’s role in serving passengers in Warri and surrounding communities.
Rather, the government wants the airport’s geographical identity to be accurately distinguished from the metropolitan area it serves.
Keyamo put the government’s position bluntly, stating: “Osubi is not Warri, and Warri is not Osubi.”
The Federal Government said the initiative is part of its broader effort to ensure that the location, identity and operational information associated with Nigeria’s airports are accurately represented in both domestic and international aviation systems.
For now, QRW remains the airport’s IATA code. Any change will only take effect if and when IATA completes its review and approves a new designation.
