Chisinau Airport is changing its IATA code from KIV to RMO starting from January 18, 2024

Chișinău Airport will have its IATA code changed starting from January 18, 2024. Instead of the current KIV (derived from the Russian name Kishinev), the only international airport in the Republic of Moldova will have the IATA code RMO.

The chosen IATA code for Chișinău Airport is derived as an abbreviation from the name Republic of Moldova.

It’s likely that for this purpose, a more fitting IATA abbreviation could have been RMD, but this code is already assigned to Ramagundam Airport in the Telangana region of India.

According to officials from the Republic of Moldova, IATA provided three international abbreviation options from which officials could choose: RMO, RMX, RMV. Under these circumstances, it was considered, through a vote, that the abbreviation RMO is the most suitable for Chișinău Airport, local media reports.

The procedure for changing the name was also voted on by the airlines operating at Chisinau Airport. Out of the four airlines that responded, three voted in favor of changing the abbreviation, while one airline was against the change of the IATA code. It is not published which airlines voted in favor or against the change.

Indeed, for those who do not speak Russian, the old IATA code could likely have caused confusion, as KIV is very similar in name to Kyiv.