After BJP MP Flags Gaya Airport's IATA Code ‘GAY', Govt Says Codes Changed Only in Special Cases

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BJP MP Bhim Singh asked the government if it was considering changing it to something 'more respectful and culturally appropriate'.
The outside of Gaya, Bihar's airport. Photo: Rashid Jorvee/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY SA 4.0.
New Delhi: Asked by a BJP MP if the government was considering changing the Gaya airport's international code 'GAY' to something 'more respectful and culturally appropriate', the civil aviation ministry pointed out that these identifiers can only be changed in exceptional circumstances.
In his question to the ministry, Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar Bhim Singh claimed that 'people' consider the Gaya airport's IATA or International Air Transport Association code of 'GAY' to be 'socially and culturally offensive'.
He asked if the government had received complaints or suggestions on the identifier, whether it is considering bringing in a 'more respectful and culturally appropriate code', what steps it has taken in this regard if so, and the reasons why if it is not.
Responding to Singh on Monday (July 4), minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that an airport's IATA code is generally made up of the first three letters of the place where it is located.
The ministry as well as the Airports Authority of India have received requests to change the Gaya airport's IATA code in the past, Mohol said, adding that Air India too had approached the Association trying to get it modified.
However, IATA informed the airline that its identifiers are 'considered permanent' and changed only in 'exceptional circumstances', which generally have to do with matters of air safety, Mohol recalled.
This is the same answer that the civil aviation ministry gave to the parliamentary standing committee on public undertakings when the latter had recommended a change to the Gaya airport's IATA code.
'The committee have their apprehension that Gaya being a holy city, locals might be finding it offensive or embarrassing on their city being recognised in the international community with the code name 'GAY' [sic],' it had told the ministry, adding that it too found the identifier to be 'inappropriate and unsuitable'.
Asked what action it had taken on the matter, the ministry in September 2021 informed the committee that while Air India had approached IATA seeking a change, the latter 'expressed its inability to change' the code 'without a justifiable reason primarily concerning air safety'.
While the committee 'appreciated' Air India's efforts, it reiterated its view that the government must 'make all effort to takeup the matter with the IATA and concerned organisation as the issue involves inappropriate code naming of an airport of a holy city of our country [sic],' it said in its report tabled in February 2022.
The Supreme Court had decriminalised homosexual relations four years prior, in 2018.
Located in southern Bihar, Gaya is home to holy sites in Hinduism and Buddhism. The Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment here.
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