Soekarno-Hatta Airport is a major hub in Indonesia, primarily serving Jakarta and its nearby regions. It's often called by various names like Soetta and Cengkareng Airport, but most commonly, it's referred to as CGK.
You might have seen the abbreviation CGK on airplane tickets, boarding passes, and airport information screens. Ever wondered what it stands for?
CGK is the official IATA (International Air Transport Association) code for Soekarno-Hatta Airport. These three-letter IATA codes are used worldwide to identify airports.
This code is important in the commercial aviation industry for labeling airline tickets, sorting baggage, and issuing boarding passes. Usually, the code is derived from the name of the nearest city or significant location to the airport.
The code "CGK" for Soekarno-Hatta Airport comes from Cengkareng, where the airport was initially built. Although the airport is now officially in Tangerang, not Cengkareng, the CGK code is still used. Changing the IATA code can be a complex process, so they've kept the original code.
You might wonder why the airport doesn't use the JKT code, especially since it serves Jakarta. Well, JKT was already assigned to Kemayoran Airport, which was Jakarta's main airport until it closed in 1985. At that time, Kemayoran was the hub for international flights in Jakarta, and thus, it used the JKT code.
After Soekarno-Hatta Airport took over as the main international gateway, JKT continued to represent Jakarta as a city, rather than any specific airport. Thus, airports in the Jakarta area got distinct codes, like CGK for Soekarno-Hatta and HLP for Halim Perdanakusuma Airport.
It is possible for an IATA code to be transferred or reused when an airport is closed and replaced by another in the same or a nearby city.
For instance, Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport’s code HKG was passed on to the new Hong Kong International Airport when Kai Tak closed in 1998.
However, the decision was made not to reuse JKT for Soekarno-Hatta. That's why we still call it CGK today, and now you know why that’s the code you’ll see when flying into or out of Jakarta.
