Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has formally asked the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to review the existing three-letter location code “QRW” assigned to Osubi Airport in Delta State.
The Minister wants IATA to consider adopting a code that more accurately reflects the airport’s official name and geographical location.
The request was contained in a letter signed by Keyamo and addressed to IATA Area Manager for West and Central Africa, Dr. Samuel Fatokun, according to the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Tunde Moshood.
Osubi Airport has the ICAO four-letter location indicator DNSU and is physically located in Osubi town, near Warri, Delta State.
Although the airport is sometimes informally referred to as “Warri Airport” because it serves the Warri metropolitan area, the Federal Government said its official geographical designation is Osubi Airport.
Keyamo argued that the continued use of the IATA code QRW, which is associated with the broader Warri identity, does not adequately reflect the airport’s official name and physical location.
The Minister therefore urged IATA to commence a formal review of the existing code and, subject to the association’s coding standards and availability of suitable combinations, consider a three-letter code with a clearer connection to Osubi.
Among the possible alternatives proposed for consideration are OSU, OSB, SUB and QSB.
However, the Minister acknowledged that the final designation would remain subject to IATA’s established coding procedures and the availability of the proposed combinations.
According to Keyamo, aligning the airport’s IATA code with its official name and physical location would strengthen its identity and reduce potential ambiguity for passengers and other stakeholders.
He added that the change would also promote consistency across aviation, travel, ticketing, baggage and related information systems.
In a related directive, Keyamo ordered all airlines operating flights to and from the airport to ensure that flight tickets, luggage tags, boarding passes and other passenger-facing documents reflect the airport’s proper designation as Osubi, Delta State.
The Minister also directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and other relevant aviation agencies to ensure the proper designation is consistently reflected across their systems, records, publications and operational interfaces.
Keyamo stressed that the clarification was intended to ensure geographical and operational accuracy rather than create confusion over the airport’s role in serving the wider Warri metropolitan area.
He stated: “Osubi is not Warri, and Warri is not Osubi.”
The Federal Government said it remained committed to ensuring that Nigeria’s aviation infrastructure, airport locations and operational information are accurately represented across national and international aviation systems.
