Short answer: 37 of the 45 we checked. We looked up 45 three-letter Halloween words in the list of IATA airport codes, more than 9,000 of them. BOO is Bodø, Norway. EEK is a village in Alaska that is really called Eek. GRR is Grand Rapids, Michigan. OWL, WEB and RIP are not airports, at least not yet.
You can tell a whole ghost story in real airports: SHH. ODD FOG. RUN! EEK! BOO! That's a village in Alaska, the Australian outback, southern Italy, an island in the Indian Ocean, another Alaskan village and the Norwegian Arctic.
How we checked
We started with the OurAirports open data, downloaded on October 15, 2026, which has 9,054 airports, airfields, heliports and seaplane bases with an IATA code. We wrote down 45 three-letter words that say Halloween and looked up each one. Then we checked every match, and every miss, in IATA's own airport code search. That added one airport to the list: RAT, which OurAirports doesn't show with a code. Where we say an airport has scheduled flights, we checked current airline schedules.
Sounds in the dark
Every gasp, growl and scream a haunted house needs.
| Code | Airport | Where |
|---|---|---|
| BOO | Bodø Airport | Bodø, Norway |
| EEK | Eek Airport | Eek, Alaska, US |
| AAH | Aachen-Merzbrück Airfield | Aachen, Germany |
| GRR | Gerald R. Ford International Airport | Grand Rapids, Michigan, US |
| SHH | Shishmaref Airport | Shishmaref, Alaska, US |
| HOO | Nhơn Cơ Airfield (disused) | Lâm Đồng Province, Vietnam |
| SOB | Hévíz-Balaton Airport | Sármellék, Hungary |
| CRY | Carlton Hill Airport | Carlton Hill, Western Australia |
Creatures of the night
| Code | Airport | Where |
|---|---|---|
| BAT | Chafei Amsei Airport | Barretos, Brazil |
| CAT | Cascais Municipal Aerodrome | Cascais, Portugal |
| RAT | Raduzhny Airport | Raduzhny, Russia |
| BUG | Benguela Airport | Benguela, Angola |
| IMP | Prefeito Renato Moreira Airport | Imperatriz, Brazil |
| ORC | Orocué Airport | Orocué, Colombia |
Fog, bogs and other scenery
| Code | Airport | Where |
|---|---|---|
| FOG | Foggia Gino Lisa Airport | Foggia, Italy |
| BOG | El Dorado International Airport | Bogotá, Colombia |
| MUD | Mueda Airport | Mueda, Mozambique |
| GOO | Goondiwindi Airport | Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia |
| ROT | Rotorua Regional Airport | Rotorua, New Zealand |
| ICY | Icy Bay Airport (private) | Icy Bay, Alaska, US |
| ASH | Nashua Airport (Boire Field) | Nashua, New Hampshire, US |
Horror movie night
The tools, the villain, the hiding place and the advice everyone shouts at the screen. DED is how the internet spells dead.
| Code | Airport | Where |
|---|---|---|
| AXE | João Winckler Airport | Xanxerê, Brazil |
| SAW | Sabiha Gökçen International Airport | Istanbul, Türkiye |
| PIT | Pittsburgh International Airport | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US |
| MAD | Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport | Madrid, Spain |
| DIE | Arrachart Airport | Antsiranana, Madagascar |
| DED | Jolly Grant Airport | Dehradun, India |
| RUN | Roland Garros Airport | Saint-Denis, Réunion |
| HID | Horn Island Airport | Horn Island, Queensland, Australia |
| SPY | San-Pédro Airport | San-Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire |
| ODD | Oodnadatta Airport | Oodnadatta, South Australia |
Trick or treat
| Code | Airport | Where |
|---|---|---|
| YUM | Yuma International Airport | Yuma, Arizona, US |
| GUM | Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport | Guam |
| POP | Gregorio Luperón International Airport | Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic |
| PIE | St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport | Clearwater, Florida, US |
| EAT | Pangborn Memorial Airport | Wenatchee, Washington, US |
| BAG | Loakan Airport | Baguio, Philippines |
Not airports (yet)
OWL, WEB, RIP, EYE, OOH and UGH: no airport has any of these codes, and no airport uses HAG. HEX used to be one. It belonged to Herrera Airport in Santo Domingo, which closed in 2006, and today the code is free.
A few favorites
- HOO is a ghost airport. The code still belongs to Nhơn Cơ, a former military airfield in Vietnam's Central Highlands, but the runway has been unused for years.
- BOO is Bodø, just north of the Arctic Circle in Norway. Widerøe, SAS and Norwegian fly there.
- EEK is Eek, Alaska. The village really is called Eek, and Grant Aviation flies there from Bethel.
- ROT is Rotorua, New Zealand, a town known for its rotten-egg smell, which comes from the hydrogen sulfide in its geothermal steam. Air New Zealand flies there.
- GRR is Grand Rapids, Michigan. Its airport is named after President Gerald R. Ford, who grew up there.
- SAW is Istanbul's second airport. It is named after Sabiha Gökçen, often described as the world's first female fighter pilot.
- RUN is Réunion, the French island in the Indian Ocean. Its airport is named after the aviator Roland Garros, who was born there.
- EAT is Wenatchee, Washington. Its airport is named after Clyde Pangborn, who landed nearby with Hugh Herndon on October 5, 1931, after the first nonstop flight across the Pacific.
- DIE is Antsiranana in Madagascar, a city long known as Diego-Suarez. Most codes come from a place's name, sometimes an old one: more on that in what do airport codes mean.
Two codes, one word
Put two codes side by side and they spell longer Halloween words. Each of these is two real airports:
| Word | Codes | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEANCE | SEA→NCE | Seattle, Washington, US | Nice, France |
| GOBLIN | GOB→LIN | Goba, Ethiopia | Milan Linate, Italy |
| SPIDER | SPI→DER | Springfield, Illinois, US | Derim, Papua New Guinea |
| SKULLS | SKU→LLS | Skyros, Greece | Las Lomitas, Argentina |
| COFFIN | COF→FIN | Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, US | Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea |
| POTION | POT→ION | Port Antonio, Jamaica | Impfondo, Republic of the Congo |
| CANDLE | CAN→DLE | Guangzhou, China | Dole, France |
| SCYTHE | SCY→THE | San Cristóbal, Galápagos, Ecuador | Teresina, Brazil |
| REAPER | REA→PER | Reao, French Polynesia | Perth, Australia |
| GROANS | GRO→ANS | Girona, Spain | Andahuaylas, Peru |
| SHIVER | SHI→VER | Shimojishima, Japan | Veracruz, Mexico |
| TERROR | TER→ROR | Lajes, Azores, Portugal | Koror, Palau |
TERROR and HORROR (HOR→ROR) both start in the Azores and end in Palau. GHOSTS, ZOMBIE and SPOOKY don't work, because there is no GHO, ZOM or SPO.
More codes that spell things
BOO, BAT and PIE are also on our full list of airport codes that spell words: 753 of them, with a map. And if your group chat speaks in abbreviations, LOL, OMG and FTW are real too: here are the internet slang airport codes.
Wear one
Every I OFTEN FLY design pairs two real airport codes that read as one word or a short sentence. Our Halloween edition (SCR→EAM, HOR→ROR and the TRI→CKS and TRE→ATS pair, with the arrow in pumpkin orange) comes back next October. Until then, the closest thing we have to a costume is BAD→GUY: Barksdale, Louisiana to Guymon, Oklahoma.
See all our airport code t-shirts, aviation hoodies, airport code hats and aviation gifts.
FAQ
Is BOO a real airport code?
Yes. BOO is Bodø Airport in Norway, just north of the Arctic Circle. Widerøe, SAS and Norwegian fly there.
Is there really a place called Eek?
Yes. Eek is a village in southwest Alaska, and its airport code is EEK. Grant Aviation flies there from Bethel.
Which spooky airport codes can you actually fly to?
Plenty. BOO (Bodø, Norway), EEK and SHH (two villages in Alaska), GRR (Grand Rapids, Michigan), ROT (Rotorua, New Zealand), RUN (Réunion), GUM (Guam), PIE (St. Pete-Clearwater, Florida) and EAT (Wenatchee, Washington) all have scheduled flights, and so do big city airports like PIT (Pittsburgh), MAD (Madrid), BOG (Bogotá) and SAW (Istanbul).
Is HEX an airport code?
Not anymore. HEX belonged to Herrera Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, which closed in 2006.
Can I use this list?
Yes, please do. Just link to this page.
Spotted a spooky code?
Send it to us at info@ioftenfly.com or tag @ioftenfly on Instagram. Happy Halloween.