An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies an aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile. In accordance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation all aircraft must be registered with a national authority (such as the FAA or Transport Canada), and furthermore, they must carry proof of this registration in the form of a legal document called a Certificate of Registration at all times when in operation. Most countries also require the aircraft registration to be imprinted on a permanent fireproof plate mounted on the fuselage for the purposes of post-fire/post-crash aircraft accident investigation.

Because airplane typically display their registration numbers on the aft fuselage just forward of the tail, in earlier times more often on the tail itself, the registration is often referred to as the "tail number". In the United States, the registration number is also referred to as an "N-number", as it starts with the letter N.

Although each aircraft registration is unique, some, but not all countries allow it to be re-used when the aircraft has been sold, destroyed or retired. For example N3794N is assigned to a Mooney M20F. It had been previously assigned to a Beechcraft Bonanza (specifically, the aircraft in which Buddy Holly was killed). Also note that an individual aircraft may be assigned different registrations during its existence. This can be because the aircraft changes ownership, state of registration, or in some countries, like the United States, for vanity reasons.

Certificate of Registration

The Certificate of Registration contains contact information used by national authorities for enforcement purposes, and for the purposes of disseminating Airworthiness Directives to aircraft owners. Most national authorities require that the aircraft owner update said contact information immediately or as soon as possible any time there is a change in the same.

 for information about registering aircraft ELTs.

International standards

The first use of aircraft registrations was based on the radio callsigns allocated at the London International Radiotelegraphic Conference in 1913. This was modified by agreement by the International Bureau at Berne and published on April 23, 1913. Although initial allocations were not specifically for aircraft but for any radio user, the International Air Navigation Convention held in Paris in 1919 made allocations specifically for aircraft registrations based on the 1913 callsign list. The agreement stipulated that the nationality marks were to be followed by a hyphen then a group of four letters that must include a vowel (and for the convention Y was considered to be a vowel).

At the International Radiotelegraph Convention at Washington in 1927 the list of markings was revised and adopted from 1928, these allocations are the basis of the currently used registrations. The marking have been amended and added to over the years and the allocations and standard are managed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Article 20 of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation (signed in 1944) requires that all signatory countries register aircraft over a certain weight with a national aviation authority. Upon registration, the aircraft receives its unique "registration" which must be displayed prominently on the aircraft.

Annex 7 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation describes the definitions, location, and measurement of nationality and registration marks. The aircraft registration is made up of a prefix selected from the country's callsign prefix allocated by the International Telecommunication Union (making the registration a quick way of determining the country of origin) and the registration suffix. Depending on the country of registration, this suffix is a numeric or alphanumeric code and consists of one to five digits or characters respectively.

The ICAO provides a supplement to Annex 7 which provides an updated list of approved Nationality and Common Marks used by various countries.

Country-specific usage

When painted on the fuselage, the prefix and suffix are separated by a dash (for example YR-BMA), however when entered in a flight plan, the dash is omitted (for example YRBMA). In the United States, the prefix and suffix are painted without a dash. Aircraft flying privately usually use their registration as their radio callsign, but many aircraft flying in commercial operations (especially charter, cargo, and airlines) use the ICAO airline designator or a company callsign. In some instances, it may be sufficient to simply display the suffix letters, with the country prefix omitted. For example, gliders registered in Australia would omit the VH prefix and simply display the suffix. Obviously this is only suitable where the aircraft does not fly in the airspace of another country.

Even if the suffix consists solely of alphabetical characters in a certain country, gliders and ultralights may sometimes use digits instead. For example, in Germany, D-ABCD can be a powered airplane while D-1234 is a glider. In Australia, early glider registration suffixes began with the letter "G", and it is not uncommon to find such gliders only displaying the last two letters of the suffix, as they lacked the range to travel internationally. For example, VH-GIQ would simply be displayed as IQ.

Different countries have different registration schemes: Canadian registrations start with C, British with G, German with D, and so forth. A comprehensive list is tabulated below.

United States

An N-number is an aircraft registration number used in the United States. All aircraft registered there have a number starting with N. An alpha-numeric system is used due to the large numbers of aircraft registered in the United States. N-numbers may only consist of 1 to 5 characters and must start with a number other than zero and can not end in more than two letters. In addition, N-numbers may not contain the letters I or O, due to their close similarity with the numerals 1 and 0.

Each alphabetic character in the suffix can have one of 24 discrete values, while each numeric digit can be one of 10, except the first, which can take on only nine values. This yields a total of 915,399 possible registration numbers in the namespace, though certain combinations are reserved either for government use or for other special purposes. With so many possible calls radio shortcuts are used. Normally when flying entirely within the United States an aircraft would not identify itself starting with "N", since that is assumed. Also, after initial contact is made with an aircraft control site only the last two or three characters are typically used.

The following are the combinations that could be used:

• N1 to N9 — Federal Aviation Administration internal use only
• N1A to N9Z
• N1AA to N9ZZ
• N10 to N99 — Federal Aviation Administration internal use only
• N10A to N99Z
• N10AA to N99ZZ
• N100 to N999
• N100A to N999Z
• N100AA to N999ZZ
• N1000 to N9999
• N1000A to N9999Z
• N10000 to N99999

An older aircraft (registered before 31 December 1948) may have a second letter in its identifier, identifying the category of aircraft. This additional letter is not actually part of the aircraft identification (e.g. NC12345 is the same registration as N12345). Aircraft category letters have not been included on any registration numbers issued since 1 January 1949, but they still appear on antique aircraft for authenticity purposes. The categories were:

• C = airline, commercial and private
• G = glider
• L = limited
• R = restricted
• S = state
• X = experimental

For example, N-X-211, the Ryan NYP aircraft flown by Charles Lindbergh as the Spirit of St. Louis, was registered in the experimental category.

Decolonisation and independence

The impact of decolonisation and independance on aircraft registration schemes has varied from place to place. Most countries on independence have had a new allocation granted taken from either an existing ITU allocation or the former countries ITU allocation. For example after partition in 1947 India retained the VT designation used by the British Raj, while Pakistan adopted the AP designation from the newly allocated ITU callsigns APA-ASZ. Hong Kong, which formerly used the VR-H designation, had the "VR" replaced with the Chinese "B" upon the 1997 Handover to China, resulting in aircraft designations with only four letters in total (as opposed to the international norm of five letters).

List of countries/regions and their registration prefixes and patterns

Country / Region	Registration Prefix	Presentation
Afghanistan	YA	YA-AAA to YA-ZZZ
Albania	ZA	ZA-AAA to ZA-ZZZ ZA-HAA to ZA-HZZ (Helicopters)
Algeria	7T	7T-AAA to 7T-ZZZ
Andorra	C3	C3-AAA to C3-ZZZ
Angola	D2	D2-AAA to D2-ZZZ
Anguilla	VP-A	VP-AAA to VP-AZZ
Antigua and Barbuda	V2	V2-AAA to V2-ZZZ
Argentina	LV/LQ	LV-AAA to LV-ZZZ LQ-AAA to LQ-ZZZ (Official use only)
Armenia	EK	EK-10000 to EK-99999
Aruba	P4	P4-AAA to P4-ZZZ
Australia	VH	VH-AAA to VH-ZZZ
Austria	OE	OE-AAA to OE-KZZ OE-BAA to OE-BZZ (governmental service) OE-LAA to OE-LZZ (airlines operating scheduled flights) OE-VAA to OE-VZZ (test registrations) OE-WAA to OE-WZZ (amphibian and sea planes) OE-XAA to OE-XZZ (helicopters) OE-0001 to OE-5999 (gliders) OE-9000 to OE-9999 (motor gliders)
Azerbaijan	4K	4K-AZ1 to 4K-AZ999 4K-10000 to 4K-99999
Bahamas	C6	C6-AAA to C6-ZZZ
Bahrain	A9C	A9C-AA to A9C-ZZ
Bangladesh	S2	S2-AAA to S2-ZZZ
Barbados	8P	8P-AAA to 8P-ZZZ
Belarus	EW	EW-100AA to EW-999ZZ EW-10000 to EW-99999
Belgium	OO	OO-AAA to OO-ZZZ (OO-Q never used) OO-BAA to OO-BZZ (preferred for Balloons) OO-YAA to OO-ZAA (preferred for gliders) OO-01 to OO-499 (Homebuilt aircraft) OO-501 to OO-999 & OO-A01 to OO-Z99 (Microlights)
Belize	V3	V3-AAA to V3-ZZZ
Benin	TY	TY-AAA to TY-ZZZ
Bermuda	VP-B, VQ-B	VP-BAA to VP-BZZ, VQ-BAA to VQ-BZZ
Bhutan	A5	A5-AAA to A5-ZZZ
Bolivia	CP	CP-1000 to CP-9999
Bosnia and Herzegovina	T9	T9-AAA to T9-ZZZ
Bosnia and Herzegovina	E7	E7-AAA to E7-ZZZ
Botswana	A2	A2-AAA to A2-ZZZ
Brazil	PP	PP-AAA to PP-ZZZ
Brazil	PR	PR-AAA to PR-ZZZ
Brazil	PT	PT-AAA to PT-ZZZ
Brazil	PU	PU-AAA to PU-ZZZ (Microlights)
British Virgin Islands	VP-L	VP-LAA to VP-LZZ
Brunei	V8	V8-AAA to V8-ZZZ V8-AA1 to V8-ZZ9 V8-001 to V8-999
Bulgaria	LZ	LZ-AAA to LZ-ZZZ
Burkina Faso	XT	XT-AAA to XT-ZZZ
Burundi	9U	9U-AAA to 9U-ZZZ
Cambodia	XU	XU-AAA to XU-ZZZ
Cameroon	TJ	TJ-AAA to TJ-ZZZ
Canada	CF-	CF-AAA to CF-ZZZ
Canada	C-F	C-FAAA to C-FZZZ
Canada	C-G	C-GAAA to C-GZZZ
Canada	C-I	C-IAAA to C-IZZZ (ultralight aeroplanes only)
Cape Verde	D4	D4-AAA to D4-ZZZ
Cayman Islands	VP-C	VP-CAA to VP-CZZ
Central African Republic	TL	TL-AAA to TL-ZZZ
Chad	TT	TT-AAA to TT-ZZZ
Chile	CC	CC-AAA to CC-ZZZ CC-CAA to CC-CZZ (commercial aircraft) CC-PAA to CC-PZZ (private aircraft)
Republic of China	B	B-10000 to B-99999
People's Republic of China	B	B-1000 to B-9999
Hong Kong, China	B-H (formerly VR-H)	B-HAA to B-HZZ
Hong Kong, China	B-K	B-KAA to B-KZZ
Hong Kong, China	B-L	B-LAA to B-LZZ
Macau, China	B-M	B-MAA to B-MZZ
Colombia	HJ	HJ-1000A to HJ-9999Z (Microlights)
Colombia	HK	HK-1000A to HK-9999Z
Comoros	D6	D6-AAA to D6-ZZZ
Congo, Republic of	TN	TN-AAA to TN-ZZZ
Cook Islands	E5	E5-AAA to E5-ZZZ
Congo, Democratic Republic of	9Q	9Q-AAA to 9Q-ZZZ
Costa Rica	TI	TI-AAA to TI-ZZZ
Côte d'Ivoire	TU	TU-AAA to TU-ZZZ
Croatia	9A	9A-AAA to 9A-ZZZ 9A-GAA to 9A-GZZ (Gliders) 9A-HAA to 9A-HZZ (Helicopters)
Cuba	CU	CU-C1000 to CU-C1999 (Airlines, cargo operations) CU-E1000 to CU-E1999 (Agricultural Aircraft) CU-H1000 to CU-H1999 (Helicopters) CU-N1000 to CU-N1999 (Private Aircraft) CU-T1000 to CU-T1999 (Airlines, passenger flights) CU-U1000 to CU-U1999 (Ultralights)
Cyprus, Republic of	5B	5B-AAA to 5B-ZZZ
Czech Republic	OK	OK-AAA to OK-ZZZ OK-AAA 00 to OK-ZZZ 99 (Microlights) OK-0000 to OK-9999 (Gliders & balloons) OK-A000 to OK-A999 (Ultralight gliders)
Denmark	OY	OY-AAA to OY-ZZZ OY-HAA to OY-HZZ (Helicopters)
Djibouti	J2	J2-AAA to J2-ZZZ
Dominica	J7	J7-AAA to J7-ZZZ
Dominican Republic	HI	HI-100AA to HI-999ZZ
East Timor	4W
Ecuador	HC	HC-AAA to HC-ZZZ
Egypt	SU	SU-AAA to SU-XXZ SU-ZAA to SU-ZZZ
El Salvador	YS	YS-AAA to YS-ZZZ
Equatorial Guinea	3C	3C-AAA to 3C-ZZZ
Eritrea	E3	E3-AAAA to E3-ZZZZ
Estonia	ES	ES-AAA to ES-ZZZ
Ethiopia	ET	ET-AAA to ET-ZZZ
Falkland Islands	VP-F	VP-FAA to VP-FZZ
Faroe Islands	OY	OY-AAA to OY-ZZZ OY-HAA to OY-HZZ (Helicopters) OY-XAA to OY-XZZ (Gliders)
Fiji Islands	DQ	DQ-AAA to DQ-ZZZ
Finland	OH	OH-AAA to OH-ZZZ OH-001 to OH-999 (gliders)
France	F	F-AAAA to F-ZZZZ F-CAAA to F-CZZZ (Gliders) F-OAAA to F-OZZZ (Overseas Territories) F-PAAA to F-PZZZ (Homebuilt) F-WAAA to F-WZZZ (Test and Delivery) "department number"-AA to -ZZ & -AAA to -ZZZ (Ultralights)[eg: 59-ABC]
French West Indies	F-OG	F-OGAA to F-OGZZ
French Guyana	F-O	F-OAAA to F-OZZZ
Gabon	TR	TR-AAA to TR-ZZZ
Gambia	C5	C5-AAA to C5-ZZZ
Georgia	4L	4L-AAA to 4L-ZZZ 4L-10000 to 4L-99999
Germany	D	D-AAAA to D-AZZZ for aircraft with more than 20t MTOW D-BAAA to D-BZZZ for aircraft with 14t-20t MTOW D-CAAA to D-CZZZ for aircraft with 5,7t-14t MTOW D-EAAA to D-EZZZ for single engine aircraft up to 2t MTOW D-FAAA to D-FZZZ for single engine aircraft from to 2t-5,7t MTOW D-GAAA to D-GZZZ for multi-engine aircraft up to 2t MTOW D-IAAA to D-IZZZ for multi-engine aircraft from 2t-5,7t MTOW D-HAAA to D-HZZZ for rotorcraft D-KAAA to D-KZZZ for powered gliders D-LAAA to D-LZZZ for airships D-MAAA to D-MZZZ for powered sports aircraft D-NAAA to D-NZZZ for non-powered sports aircraft D-OAAA to D-OZZZ for manned free ballons D-0001 to D-9999 for Gliders
Ghana	9G	9G-AAA to 9G-ZZZ
Gibraltar	VP-G	VP-GAA to VP-GZZ
Greece	SX	SX-AAA to SX-ZZZ
Greenland	OY	OY-AAA to OY-ZZZ
Grenada	J3	J3-AAA to J3-ZZZ
Guatemala	TG	TG-AAA to TG-ZZZ
Guinea	3X	3X-AAA to 3X-ZZZ
Guinea Bissau	J5	J5-AAA to J5-ZZZ
Guyana	8R	8R-AAA to 8R-ZZZ
Haiti	HH	HH-AAA to HH-ZZZ
Honduras	HR	HR-AAA to HR-ZZZ
Hungary	HA	HA-AAA to HA-ZZZ
Iceland	TF	TF-AAA to TF-ZZZ TF-100 to TF-999 (Microlights)
India	VT	VT-AAA to VT-ZZZ VT-HAA to VT-HZZ (Helicopters)
Indonesia	PK	PK-AAA to PK-ZZZ
Iran	EP	EP-AAA to EP-ZZZ
Iraq	YI	YI-AAA to YI-ZZZ
Ireland	EI	EI-AAA to EI-ZZZ
Isle of Man	M	M-AAAA to M-ZZZZ
Israel	4X	4X-AAA to 4X-ZZZ
Italy	I	I-AAAA to I-ZZZZ
Jamaica	6Y	6Y-AAA to 6Y-ZZZ
Japan	JA	JA-0001 to JA-9999 JA-001A to JA-999Z JA-01AA to JA-99ZZ JA-A001 to JA-A999 (Balloons)
Jordan	JY	JY-AAA to JY-ZZZ
Kazakhstan	UP	UP-AAA01 to UP-ZZZ99 (Suffix letters refer to aircraft type)
Kenya	5Y	5Y-AAA to 5Y-ZZZ
Kiribati	T3	T3-AAA to T3-ZZZ
Korea, People's Democratic Rep.	P	P-500 to P-999
Korea, Republic of	HL	HL1000 to HL9999
Kuwait	9K	9K-AAA to 9K-ZZZ
Kyrgyzstan	EX	EX-100 to EX-999 EX-10000 to EX-99999
Laos	RDPL	RDPL-10000 to RDPL-99999
Latvia	YL	YL-AAA to YL-ZZZ
Lebanon	OD	OD-AAA to OD-ZZZ
Lesotho	7P	7P-AAA to 7P-ZZZ
Liberia	A8	A8-AAA to A8-ZZZ
Libya	5A	5A-AAA to 5A-ZZZ
Liechtenstein	HB	HB-AAA to HB-ZZZ (shares allocation with Switzerland)
Lithuania	LY	LY-AAA to LY-ZZZ
Luxembourg	LX	LX-AAA to LX-ZZZ LX-BAA to LX-BZZ (Balloons) LX-CAA to LX-CZZ (Glider) LX-HAA to LX-HZZ (Helicopters) LX-XAA to LX-XZZ (Ultralights)
Macedonia	Z3	Z3-AAA to Z3-ZZZ Z3-HAA to Z3-HZZ (Helicopters)
Madagascar	5R	5R-AAA to 5R-ZZZ
Malawi	7Q	7Q-AAA to 7Q-ZZZ
Malaysia	9M	9M-AAA to 9M-ZZZ 9M-EAA to 9M-EZZ (Amateur-built) 9M-UAA to 9M-UZZ (Microlight)
Maldives	8Q	8Q-AAA to 8Q-ZZZ
Mali	TZ	TZ-AAA to TZ-ZZZ
Malta	9H	9H-AAA to 9H-ZZZ
Marshall Islands	V7	V7-0001 to V7-9999
Mauritania	5T	5T-AAA to 5T-ZZZ
Mauritius	3B	3B-AAA to 3B-ZZZ
Mexico	XA	XA-AAA to XA-ZZZ
Mexico	XB	XB-AAA to XB-ZZZ
Mexico	XC	XC-AAA to XC-ZZZ
Micronesia	V6	V6-AAA to V6-ZZZ
Moldova	ER	ER-AAA to ER-ZZZ ER-10000 to ER-99999
Monaco	3A	3A-AAA to 3A-ZZZ 3A-HAA to 3A-HZZ (Helicopters)
Mongolia	JU	JU-1000 to JU-9999
Montenegro	4O	4O-AAA to 4O-ZZZ
Montserrat	VP-M	VP-MAA to VP-MZZ
Morocco	CN	CN-AAA to CN-ZZZ
Mozambique	C9	C9-AAA to C9-ZZZ
Myanmar	XY	XY-AAA to XY-ZZZ
Myanmar	XZ	XZ-AAA to XZ-ZZZ (Not Used)
Namibia	V5	V5-AAA to V5-ZZZ
Nauru	C2	C2-AAA to C2-ZZZ
Nepal	9N	9N-AAA to 9N-ZZZ
Netherlands	PH	PH-AAA to PH-ZZZ PH-1A1 to PH-9Z9 (Microlights) PH-100 to PH-9999 (Gliders)
Netherlands Antilles	PJ	PJ-AAA to PJ-ZZZ
New Zealand	ZK	ZK-A**, ZK-B**, ZK-GA*, ZK-HA* reserved for historical aircraft including helicopters and gliders since 1987 ZK-FA*, ZK-FB* balloons ZK-G** gliders ZK-H**, ZK-I** helicopters ZK-RA*, ZK-RB*, ZK-RC*, ZK-RD* gyrocopters ZK-Q** marks are prohibited by ICAO Remainder for fixed wing aircraft
Nicaragua	YN	YN-AAA to YN-ZZZ
Niger	5U	5U-AAA to 5U-ZZZ
Nigeria	5N	5N-AAA to 5N-ZZZ
Norway	LN	LN-AAA to LN-ZZZ
Oman	A4O	A4O-AA to A4O-ZZ
Pakistan	AP	AP-AAA to AP-ZZZ
Palestine	SU-Y	SU-YAA to SU-YZZ
Palestine	E4
Panama	HP	HP-1000AA to HP-9999ZZ
Papua New Guinea	P2	P2-AAA to P2-ZZZ
Paraguay	ZP	ZP-AAA to ZP-ZZZ
Peru	OB	OB-1000 to OB-9999
Philippines	RP-C	RP-C0001 to RP-C9999
Poland	SP	SP-AAA to SP-ZZZ SP-1000 to SP-3000, SP-8000 (gliders) SP-SAAA to SP-SZZZ (ultralights) SN-00AA (police and border guard)
Portugal	CR	CR-AAA to CR-ZZZ
Portugal	CS	CS-AAA to CS-ZZZ
Qatar	A7	A7-AAA to A7-ZZZ
Réunion Island	F-OD	F-ODAA to F-ODZZ
Romania	YR	YR-AAA to YR-ZZZ YR-1000 to YR-9999 (Gliders)
Russian Federation	RA	RA-00001 to RA-99999 RA-0001A to RA-9999Z
Russian Federation	RF	RF-00001 to RF-99999 (state-owned aircraft)
Rwanda	9XR	9XR-AA to 9XR-ZZ
Saint Helena/Ascension	VQ-H	VQ-HAA to VQ-HZZ
Saint Kitts and Nevis	V4	V4-AAA to V4-ZZZ
Saint Lucia	J6	J6-AAA to J6-ZZZ
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	J8	J8-AAA to J8-ZZZ
Samoa	5W	5W-AAA to 5W-ZZZ
San Marino	T7	T7-AAA to T7-ZZZ T7-001 to T7-999 (Microlights)
São Tomé and Príncipe	S9	S9-AAA to S9-ZZZ
Saudi Arabia	HZ	HZ-AAA to HZ-ZZZ HZ-AA1 to HZ-ZZ99 HZ-AAA1 to HZ-ZZZ99
Senegal	6V	6V-AAA to 6V-ZZZ
Serbia	YU	YU-AAA to YU-ZZZ
Seychelles	S7	S7-AAA to S7-ZZZ
Sierra Leone	9L	9L-AAA to 9L-ZZZ
Singapore	9V	9V-AAA to 9V-ZZZ
Slovakia	OM	OM-AAA to OM-ZZZ
Slovenia	S5	S5-AAA to S5-ZZZ S5-HAA to S5-HZZ (Helicopters)
Solomon Islands	H4	H4-AAA to H4-ZZZ
Somalia	6O	6O-AAA to 6O-ZZZ
South Africa	ZS	ZS-AAA to ZS-ZZZ
South Africa	ZT	ZT-AAA to ZT-ZZZ
South Africa	ZU	ZU-AAA to ZU-ZZZ (experimental license)
Spain	EC	EC-AAA to EC-ZZZ EC-001 to EC-999 (Test and delivery)
Sri Lanka	4R	4R-AAA to 4R-ZZZ
Sudan	ST	ST-AAA to ST-ZZZ
Surinam	PZ	PZ-AAA to PZ-ZZZ
Swaziland	3D	3D-AAA to 3D-ZZZ
Sweden	SE	SE-AAA to SE-ZZZ
Switzerland	HB	HB-AAA to HB-ZZZ HB-1 to HB-9999 for Gliders and Motorgliders
Syria	YK	YK-AAA to YK-ZZZ
Tahiti	F-OH	F-OHAA to F-OHZZ
Tajikistan	EY	EY-10000 to EY-99999
Tanzania	5H	5H-AAA to 5H-ZZZ
Thailand	HS	HS-AAA to HS-ZZZ
Togo	5V	5V-AAA to 5V-ZZZ
Tonga	A3	A3-AAA to A3-ZZZ
Trinidad and Tobago	9Y	9Y-AAA to 9Y-ZZZ
Tunisia	TS	TS-AAA to TS-ZZZ
Turkey	TC	TC-AAA to TC-ZZZ
Turkmenistan	EZ	EZ-A100 to EZ-Z999
Turks and Caicos	VQ-T	VQ-TAA to VQ-TZZ
Tuvalu	T2	T2-AAA to T2-ZZZ
Uganda	5X	5X-AAA to 5X-ZZZ
Ukraine	UR	UR-AAA to UR-ZZZ UR-10000 to UR-99999
United Arab Emirates	A6	A6-AAA to A6-ZZZ
United Kingdom	G	G-AAAA to G-ZZZZ G-1-1 to G-99-99 (Test and delivery) G-N01AA to G-N99ZZ (dual registration of Concorde)
United Nations	4U	4U-AAA to 4U-ZZZ
United States of America	N	N1 to N99999 N1A to N9999Z N1AA to N999ZZ
Uruguay	CX	CX-AAA to CX-ZZZ
Uzbekistan	UK	UK-10000 to UK-99999
Vanuatu	YJ	YJ-AA1 to YJ-ZZ99
Venezuela	YV	YV0001 to YV9999 YV-0001A to YV-9999P YV-AAA1 to YV-ZZZ9 (Official use)
Vietnam	VN	VN-1000 to VN-9999 VN-A100 to VN-A999
Yemen	7O	7O-AAA to 7O-ZZZ
Zambia	9J	9J-AAA to 9J-ZZZ
Zimbabwe	Z	Z-AAA to Z-ZZZ

Notes

1. Has not been used on any aircraft previously.
2. OY-Hab is reserved for helicopters, OY-Xab is for gliders only and OY-Bab is preferred for hot-air balloons.

1919 Allocations

Country / Region	Registration Prefix	Suffix Pattern
Belgium	O-B	O-Babc
Bolivia	C-B	C-Babc
Brazil	P-B	P-Babc
British Empire	G	G-abcd
China	X-C	X-Cabc
Colombia	C	C-# to C-###
Cuba	C-C	C-Cabc
Czechoslovakia	L-B	L-Babc
Ecuador	E-E	E-Eabc
Finland	K-S	K-Sabc
France	F	F-abcd
Greece	S-G	S-Gabc
Guatemala	L-G	L-Gabc
Haiti	H-H	H-Habc
Hedjaz	A-H	A-Habc
Honduras	X-H	X-Habc
Italy	I	I-abcd
Japan	J	J-abcd
Liberia	L-L	L-Labc
Panama	S-P	S-Pabc
Peru	O-P	O-Pabc
Poland	P-P	P-Pabc
Portugal	C-P	C-Pabc
Romania	C-R	C-Rabc
Serbia-Croatia-Slavonia	X-S	X-Sabc
Siam	H-S	H-Sabc
United States of America	N	N-abcd
Uruguay	C-U	C-Uabc

See also

• List of aircraft by tail number
• Tail Code
• Serial number
• United Kingdom military aircraft serials
• United States military aircraft serials

References

1. N3794N
2. FAA registration numbering scheme
3. [1], [2] and [3]
4. Tupolev Tu-154 Monography, Dimitry Komissarov, Aerofax 2007 (ISBN 1-85780-241-1)
5. [4]
6. Decree No. 155/2005 Coll. of the Ministry of Informatics of the Czech Republic, § 9 (3)h)
7. ITU code 'M' is registered to the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man is not a sovereign entity in international law.

External links

• Searchable worldwide registration database
• Aruba Aircraft Register
• Australian Aircraft Register
• Austrian Aircraft Register
• Belgian Aircraft Register
• Brazilian Aircraft Register
• British Aircraft Register
• Canadian Aircraft Register
• Danish Aircraft Register
• Dutch Aircraft Register
• Finnish Aircraft Register
• French Aircraft Register
• Guatemalan Aircraft Register
• Indian Aircraft Register
• International Registry of Mobile Assets, pursuant to the Cape Town Treaty
• Irish Aircraft Register
• Latvian Aircraft Register
• Lebanese Aircraft Register
• Luxembourg Aircraft Register
• New Zealand Aircraft Register
• Norwegian Aircraft Register
• Singapore Aircraft Register
• South African Aircraft Register
• Swedish Aircraft Register
• Swiss Aircraft Registry
• United States Aircraft Registry
• Article 20 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation
• Annex 7 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation
• Supplement to Annex 7 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation