Registration numbers

The registration number of an aircraft is unique combinations of letters and numbers, which belongs and identifies only one vehicle at any given time. The number is assigned by an international authority and classified in the national aircraft registers. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is the body to assign and manage all registration numbers for passenger, cargo and private aircraft flying internationally. The nationality and registration marks need to be displayed on every aircraft. This is required by Article 20 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation crafted on 7 December 1944 and followed ever since.

The format of the registration number is quite flexible, with many variations. The registration mark can start with a number or a character, the prefix is one to four symbols long, there can be a dash although not required and the rest may be pretty much any combination of numbers and letters.

No dash:

1-symbol prefix:

N948G → Privately-owned, Daher TBM-940, registered in the United States of America.

N82EM → Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express, registered in the United States of America.

N57016 → "United Airlines", Boeing 777-224 (ER), registered in the United States of America.

N3385L → Privately-owned, Cessna A185E, registered in the United States of America.

N178DZ → "Delta Air Lines", Boeing 767-332 (ER), registered in the United States of America.

2-symbol prefix:

UK888 → Government-owned, Airbus A319-153N (CJ), registered in Uzbekistan.

UK78705 → "Uzbekistan Airways", Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, registered in Uzbekistan.

With dash:

1-symbol prefix:

2-TIFU → "Untitled", Airbus A320-200, registered in Guernsey.

B-2021 → "China Eastern Airline", Boeing 777-39P(ER), registered in China.

B-321N → "Air China", Airbus A350-941, registered in China.

B-30AL → "China Southern Airlines", Airbus A350-941, registered in China.

G-EUYV → "British Airways", Airbus A320-232, registered in the United KIngdom.

2-symbol prefix:

4X-ABI → "Israir Airlines", Airbus A320-232, registered in Israel.

LN-DYY → "Norwegian", Boeing 737-8JP, registered in Norway.

A6-ENV → "Emirates", Boeing 777-31H (ER), registered in the United Arab Emirates.

UP-EM018 → "Euro-Asia Air", Embraer Legacy 650, registered in Kazakhstan.

3-symbol prefix:

9XR-WF → "RwandAir", Boeing 737-84Y, registered in Rwanda.

A9C-HAK → "Bahrain Royal Flight", Boeing 747-4F6, registered in Bahrain.

4-symbol prefix:

RDPL-34223 → "Lao Airlines", Airbus A320-214, registered in Laos.

The unique prefix is always identifying the national or regional adherence of the aircraft. The table below shows prefixes assigned by ICAO and the corresponding geographic entity.

ICAO prefix ▾	Old designation ▾	Entity ▾	Period ▾
2-		Guernsey	2013-
3A-	CZ, MC	Monaco	1959-
3B-	VQ-M	Mauritius	1968-
3C-	VQ-ZI	Equatorial Guinea	1975-
3D-		Eswatini (Swaziland)	1975-
3X-	F-O	Guinea	1958-
4K-		Azerbaijan
4L-		Georgia
4O-		Montenegro	2008-
4R-	VP-C, CY-	Sri Lanka	1954-
4U-		United Nations
4W-		Timor-Leste
4X-		Israel	1948
5A-		Libya	1951-
5B-	VQ-C	Cyprus	1960-
5H-	VP-Z	Tanzania	1964-
5N-	VR-N	Nigeria	1961-
5R-	F-O	Madagascar	1960-
5T-	F-O	Mauritania	1960-
5U-	F-O	Niger	1960-
5V-		Togo	1976-
5W-		Samoa	1962-
5X-	VP-U	Uganda	1962-
5Y-	VP-K	Kenya	1963-
6O-	6OS-	Somalia	1969-
6V-	F-O	Senegal	1960-
6W-		Senegal	1960-
6Y-	VP-J	Jamaica	1964-
7O-	YE-, 4W-	Yemen	1974-
7P-	VQ-ZA,-ZD	Lesotho	1967-
7Q-	VP-Y	Malawi	1964-
7T-	F-O	Algeria	1962-
8P-	VQ-B	Barbados	1968-
8Q-		Maldives	1976-
8R-	VP-G	Guyana	1967-
9A-	RC-	Croatia
9G-	VP-A	Ghana	1957-
9H-	VP-M	Malta	1968-
9J-	VP-Y	Zambia	1964-
9K-	K-	Kuwait	1961-
9L-	VR-L	Sierra Leone	1961
9M-	VR-J, VR-O, VR-R	Malaysia	1963-
9N-		Nepal	1961-
9S-	9O-, 9Q-	Congo-Kinshasa	2016-
9T-	9O-, 9Q-	Congo-Kinshasa	2016-
9U-	BR-	Burundi	1962-
9V-	VR-S	Singapore	1970-
9XR-		Rwanda	1962
9Y-	VP-T	Trinidad and Tobago	1965-
A2-	VQ-ZE, -ZH	Botswana	1972-
A3-		Tonga
A4O-		Oman	1974-
A5-		Bhutan
A6-		United Arab Emirates	1977-
A7-		Qatar	1975-
A8-	EL-, LI-	Liberia	1952-
A9C-		Bahrain	1977-
AP-		Pakistan	1947-
B-	XT-	China	1975-
B-		Taiwan	1949-
B-H	VR-H	Hong Kong, China
B-K	VR-H	Hong Kong, China
B-L	VR-H	Hong Kong, China
B-M	CS-M	Macao
C-	CF-	Canada	1974-
C2-		Nauru	1971-
C3-		Andorra
C5-	VP-X	Gambia	1978-
C6-	VP-B	Bahamas	1975-
C9-	CR-A, CR-B	Mozambique	1975-
CC-		Chile	1929-
CN-		Morocco	1952-
CP-	CB-	Bolivia	1954-
CS-	CR-	Portugal	1929-
CU-		Cuba	1945-
CX-		Uruguay	1929-
D-	DM-, DDR-	Germany	1929-
D2-	CR-L	Angola	1975-
D4-	CR-C	Cape Verde
D6-		Comoros	1977-
DQ-	VQ-F	Fiji	1971-
E3-		Eritrea
E4-		Palestine
E5-		Cook Islands
E7-	T9-YU-	Bosnia and Herzegovina
EC-		Spain	1929
EM-		Spain	1929
EI-		Ireland	1929
EJ-		Ireland	1929
EK-	CCCP-	Armenia
EP-	RV-	Iran	1944-
ER-	CCCP-	Moldova
ES-	CCCP-	Estonia
ET-		Ethiopia	1929-
EW-	CCCP-	Belarus
EX-	CCCP-	Kyrgyzstan
EY-	CCCP-	Tajikistan
EZ-	CCCP-	Turkmenistan
F-		France	1929-
F-O		Reunion
F-OD		New Caledonia
F-OG		Martinique
F-OG		Guadeloupe
F-OH		Tahiti
G-		United Kingdom	1929-
GL-		Greenland
H4-	VP-P	Solomon Islands
HA-		Hungary	1935-
HB-	CH-	Switzerland	1935-
HC-		Ecuador	1929-
HH-		Haiti	1929-
HI-		Dominican Republic	1929-
HJ-	C-	Colombia	1946-
HK-	C-	Colombia	1946-
HL		South Korea	1948-
HP-	RX-	Panama	1952-
HR-	XH-	Honduras	1961-
HS-		Thailand	1929-
HV-		Vatican City
HZ-	UH-	Saudi Arabia	1945-
I-		Italy	1929-
J2-		Djibouti
J3-	VQ-G	Grenada
J5-	CR-G	Guinea-Bissau
J6-	VQ-L	Saint Lucia
J7-		Dominica
J8-	VP-V	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
JA	J	Japan	1948-
JU-	MT-	Mongolia
JY-		Jordan	1954-
LN-		Norway	1931-
LQ-		Argentina	1932-
LV-	R-	Argentina	1932-
LX-	UL-	Luxembourg	1946-
LY-		Lithuania
LZ-		Bulgaria	1929-
M-		Isle of Man	2007-
N	NC,NL,NR.NS,NX	United States of America	1929-
OB-	OA-	Peru	1950-
OD-	LR-	Lebanon	1954-
OE-	A-	Austria	1945-
OH-	K-S	Finland	1931-
OK-		Czechia	1929-
OM-	OK-	Slovakia
OO-		Belgium	1929-
OY-		Denmark	1929-
P-		North Korea
P2-		Papua New Guinea	1974-
P4-		Aruba
PH-		Netherlands	1929-
PJ-		Netherlands Antilles	1945-
PK-		Indonesia	1929-
PP-		Brazil	1932-
PR-		Brazil
PS-		Brazil
PT-		Brazil	1950-
PU-		Brazil
PZ-		Suriname	1929-
RA-	CCCP-	Russian Federation
RF-	CCCP-	Russian Federation
RDPL-	F-L, XW-	Laos	1975-
RP-	PI-	Philippines	1975-
S2-		Bangladesh	1972-
S3-		Bangladesh	1976
S5-	SL-	Slovenia
S7-	VQ-S	Seychelles	1977-
S9-	CR-S	Sao Tome and Principe
SE-		Sweden	1929-
SN-		Poland	1929-
SP-		Poland	1929-
ST-	SN-	Sudan	1959-
SU-		Egypt	1931-
SX-		Greece	1929-
T2-		Tuvalu
T3-		Kiribati
T7-		San Marino
T8-		Palau
TC-		Turkey	1929-
TF-		Iceland	1937-
TG-	LG-	Guatemala	1948-
TI-		Costa Rica	1931-
TJ-	F-O, VR-N	Cameroon	1960-
TL-	F-O	Central African Republic	1960-
TN-	F-O	Congo-Brazzaville	1960-
TR-	F-O	Gabon	1960-
TS-	F-O	Tunisia	1956-
TT-	F-O	Chad	1960-
TU-	F-O	Cote D'Ivoire	1960-
TY-	F-O	Benin	1960-
TZ-	F-O	Mali	1960-
UK-	CCCP-	Uzbekistan
UP-	UN-CCCP-	Kazakhstan	2008-
UR-	CCCP-	Ukraine
V2-	VP-L	Antigua and Barbuda
V3-	VP-H	Belize
V4-	VP-LKA-LLZ	Saint Kitts and Nevis
V5-		Namibia
V6-		Micronesia
V7-		Marshall Islands
V8-	VR-U	Brunei
VH-		Australia	1929-
VN-	XV-	Vietnam
VP-A	VR-B	Anguilla
VP-B	VR-B	Bermuda
VQ-B	VR-B	Bermuda
VP-C	VR-C	Cayman Islands
VP-F		Falkland Islands	1929-
VP-G		Gibraltar
VP-M	LMA-, LUZ	Montserrat
VP-L		British Virgin Islands	1971-
VQ-H		Saint Helena	1929-
VQ-T		Turks and Caicos Islands
VT-		India	1930-
XA-		Mexico	1929-
XB-		Mexico	1929-
XC-		Mexico	1929-
XT-	F-O	Burkina Faso
XU-	F-KH, KW-	Cambodia	1954-
XY-		Myanmar	1948-
XZ-		Myanmar
YA-		Afghanistan	1929-
YI-		Iraq	1931-
YJ-		Vanuatu	1929-
YK-		Syria	1952-
YL-		Latvia
YN-	AN-	Nicaragua
YR-	CV-	Romania	1936-
YS-		El Salvador	1939-
YU-	UN-	Serbia	1935-
YV-		Venezuela	1931-
Z-	VP-W, VP-Y	Zimbabwe
Z3-		North Macedonia
Z6-		Kosovo
Z8-		South Sudan
ZA-		Albania	1946-
ZJ-		Jersey
ZK-		New Zealand	1929-
ZL-		New Zealand
ZM-		New Zealand
ZP-		Paraguay	1929-
ZS-	G-UA	South Africa	1929-
ZT-		South Africa
ZU-		South Africa

ICAO prefix ▾

Old designation ▾

Flag

Entity ▾

Period ▾

Guernsey

2013-

3A-

CZ, MC

Monaco

1959-

3B-

VQ-M

Mauritius

1968-

3C-

VQ-ZI

Equatorial Guinea

1975-

3D-

Eswatini (Swaziland)

1975-

3X-

F-O

Guinea

1958-

4K-

Azerbaijan

4L-

Georgia

4O-

Montenegro

2008-

4R-

VP-C, CY-

Sri Lanka

1954-

4U-

United Nations

4W-

Timor-Leste

4X-

Israel

1948

5A-

Libya

1951-

5B-

VQ-C

Cyprus

1960-

5H-

VP-Z

Tanzania

1964-

5N-

VR-N

Nigeria

1961-

5R-

F-O

Madagascar

1960-

5T-

F-O

Mauritania

1960-

5U-

F-O

Niger

1960-

5V-

Togo

1976-

5W-

Samoa

1962-

5X-

VP-U

Uganda

1962-

5Y-

VP-K

Kenya

1963-

6O-

6OS-

Somalia

1969-

6V-

F-O

Senegal

1960-

6W-

Senegal

1960-

6Y-

VP-J

Jamaica

1964-

7O-

YE-, 4W-

Yemen

1974-

7P-

VQ-ZA,-ZD

Lesotho

1967-

7Q-

VP-Y

Malawi

1964-

7T-

F-O

Algeria

1962-

8P-

VQ-B

Barbados

1968-

8Q-

Maldives

1976-

8R-

VP-G

Guyana

1967-

9A-

RC-

Croatia

9G-

VP-A

Ghana

1957-

9H-

VP-M

Malta

1968-

9J-

VP-Y

Zambia

1964-

9K-

K-

Kuwait

1961-

9L-

VR-L

Sierra Leone

1961

9M-

VR-J, VR-O, VR-R

Malaysia

1963-

9N-

Nepal

1961-

9S-

9O-, 9Q-

Congo-Kinshasa

2016-

9T-

9O-, 9Q-

Congo-Kinshasa

2016-

9U-

BR-

Burundi

1962-

9V-

VR-S

Singapore

1970-

9XR-

Rwanda

1962

9Y-

VP-T

Trinidad and Tobago

1965-

A2-

VQ-ZE, -ZH

Botswana

1972-

A3-

Tonga

A4O-

Oman

1974-

A5-

Bhutan

A6-

United Arab Emirates

1977-

A7-

Qatar

1975-

A8-

EL-, LI-

Liberia

1952-

A9C-

Bahrain

1977-

AP-

Pakistan

1947-

B-

XT-

China

1975-

B-

Taiwan

1949-

B-H

VR-H

Hong Kong, China

B-K

VR-H

Hong Kong, China

B-L

VR-H

Hong Kong, China

B-M

CS-M

Macao

C-

CF-

Canada

1974-

C2-

Nauru

1971-

C3-

Andorra

C5-

VP-X

Gambia

1978-

C6-

VP-B

Bahamas

1975-

C9-

CR-A, CR-B

Mozambique

1975-

CC-

Chile

1929-

CN-

Morocco

1952-

CP-

CB-

Bolivia

1954-

CS-

CR-

Portugal

1929-

CU-

Cuba

1945-

CX-

Uruguay

1929-

D-

DM-, DDR-

Germany

1929-

D2-

CR-L

Angola

1975-

D4-

CR-C

Cape Verde

D6-

Comoros

1977-

DQ-

VQ-F

Fiji

1971-

E3-

Eritrea

E4-

Palestine

E5-

Cook Islands

E7-

T9-YU-

Bosnia and Herzegovina

EC-

Spain

1929

EM-

Spain

1929

EI-

Ireland

1929

EJ-

Ireland

1929

EK-

CCCP-

Armenia

EP-

RV-

Iran

1944-

ER-

CCCP-

Moldova

ES-

CCCP-

Estonia

ET-

Ethiopia

1929-

EW-

CCCP-

Belarus

EX-

CCCP-

Kyrgyzstan

EY-

CCCP-

Tajikistan

EZ-

CCCP-

Turkmenistan

F-

France

1929-

F-O

Reunion

F-OD

New Caledonia

F-OG

Martinique

F-OG

Guadeloupe

F-OH

Tahiti

G-

United Kingdom

1929-

GL-

Greenland

H4-

VP-P

Solomon Islands

HA-

Hungary

1935-

HB-

CH-

Switzerland

1935-

HC-

Ecuador

1929-

HH-

Haiti

1929-

HI-

Dominican Republic

1929-

HJ-

C-

Colombia

1946-

HK-

C-

Colombia

1946-

South Korea

1948-

HP-

RX-

Panama

1952-

HR-

XH-

Honduras

1961-

HS-

Thailand

1929-

HV-

Vatican City

HZ-

UH-

Saudi Arabia

1945-

I-

Italy

1929-

J2-

Djibouti

J3-

VQ-G

Grenada

J5-

CR-G

Guinea-Bissau

J6-

VQ-L

Saint Lucia

J7-

Dominica

J8-

VP-V

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Japan

1948-

JU-

MT-

Mongolia

JY-

Jordan

1954-

LN-

Norway

1931-

LQ-

Argentina

1932-

LV-

R-

Argentina

1932-

LX-

UL-

Luxembourg

1946-

LY-

Lithuania

LZ-

Bulgaria

1929-

M-

Isle of Man

2007-

NC,NL,NR.NS,NX

United States of America

1929-

OB-

OA-

Peru

1950-

OD-

LR-

Lebanon

1954-

OE-

A-

Austria

1945-

OH-

K-S

Finland

1931-

OK-

Czechia

1929-

OM-

OK-

Slovakia

OO-

Belgium

1929-

OY-

Denmark

1929-

P-

North Korea

P2-

Papua New Guinea

1974-

P4-

Aruba

PH-

Netherlands

1929-

PJ-

Netherlands Antilles

1945-

PK-

Indonesia

1929-

PP-

Brazil

1932-

PR-

Brazil

PS-

Brazil

PT-

Brazil

1950-

PU-

Brazil

PZ-

Suriname

1929-

RA-

CCCP-

Russian Federation

RF-

CCCP-

Russian Federation

RDPL-

F-L, XW-

Laos

1975-

RP-

PI-

Philippines

1975-

S2-

Bangladesh

1972-

S3-

Bangladesh

1976

S5-

SL-

Slovenia

S7-

VQ-S

Seychelles

1977-

S9-

CR-S

Sao Tome and Principe

SE-

Sweden

1929-

SN-

Poland

1929-

SP-

Poland

1929-

ST-

SN-

Sudan

1959-

SU-

Egypt

1931-

SX-

Greece

1929-

T2-

Tuvalu

T3-

Kiribati

T7-

San Marino

T8-

Palau

TC-

Turkey

1929-

TF-

Iceland

1937-

TG-

LG-

Guatemala

1948-

TI-

Costa Rica

1931-

TJ-

F-O, VR-N

Cameroon

1960-

TL-

F-O

Central African Republic

1960-

TN-

F-O

Congo-Brazzaville

1960-

TR-

F-O

Gabon

1960-

TS-

F-O

Tunisia

1956-

TT-

F-O

Chad

1960-

TU-

F-O

Cote D'Ivoire

1960-

TY-

F-O

Benin

1960-

TZ-

F-O

Mali

1960-

UK-

CCCP-

Uzbekistan

UP-

UN-CCCP-

Kazakhstan

2008-

UR-

CCCP-

Ukraine

V2-

VP-L

Antigua and Barbuda

V3-

VP-H

Belize

V4-

VP-LKA-LLZ

Saint Kitts and Nevis

V5-

Namibia

V6-

Micronesia

V7-

Marshall Islands

V8-

VR-U

Brunei

VH-

Australia

1929-

VN-

XV-

Vietnam

VP-A

VR-B

Anguilla

VP-B

VR-B

Bermuda

VQ-B

VR-B

Bermuda

VP-C

VR-C

Cayman Islands

VP-F

Falkland Islands

1929-

VP-G

Gibraltar

VP-M

LMA-, LUZ

Montserrat

VP-L

British Virgin Islands

1971-

VQ-H

Saint Helena

1929-

VQ-T

Turks and Caicos Islands

VT-

India

1930-

XA-

Mexico

1929-

XB-

Mexico

1929-

XC-

Mexico

1929-

XT-

F-O

Burkina Faso

XU-

F-KH, KW-

Cambodia

1954-

XY-

Myanmar

1948-

XZ-

Myanmar

YA-

Afghanistan

1929-

YI-

Iraq

1931-

YJ-

Vanuatu

1929-

YK-

Syria

1952-

YL-

Latvia

YN-

AN-

Nicaragua

YR-

CV-

Romania

1936-

YS-

El Salvador

1939-

YU-

UN-

Serbia

1935-

YV-

Venezuela

1931-

Z-

VP-W, VP-Y

Zimbabwe

Z3-

North Macedonia

Z6-

Kosovo

Z8-

South Sudan

ZA-

Albania

1946-

ZJ-

Jersey

ZK-

New Zealand

1929-

ZL-

New Zealand

ZM-

New Zealand

ZP-

Paraguay

1929-

ZS-

G-UA

South Africa

1929-

ZT-

South Africa

ZU-

South Africa