COLOGNE, Germany - July 22, 2003 /PRnetwire.com/ -- Secura, an ICANN accredited domain name registrar, announced today, that it is still accepting registrations of Three-Letter-IATA-Codes as aero-domains till September 15 2003. Following the consultations with ACI and the Dot Aero Council, airports have an extended period until September 15, 2003 to secure short and memorable ".aero" domain names corresponding to the IATA and IACO codes. (https://www.domainregistry.de/aero.html).

After September 15 everybody in the aviation community will be able to register these attractive names.

Airports are also invited to register their:
* 3-letter-IATA-location.identifier.airport.aero and
* 4-letter-ICAO-location.identifier.airport.aero.

As of March 3 all 3- and 4-letter names in airport.aero are strictly reserved for these codes.

Airports can also register aero-domains in the format location-code-locaction-code.aero, e.g. jfk-muc.aero. Such aero-domains are very suitable, in order to publish flight schedules and flight information, in this example flights from Kennedy Airport to the Munich Airport.

The rumour, that it is not permitted to register the city name where an airport is located, is false. Every airport can register city.aero (e.g. paris.aero) if the domain name is still available. As expected, such names will generate great traffic in the future, and city names should be secured as quickly as possible.

Airlines can register their two-character-IATA-Code as aero-domain. Many Top Level Domains (TLDs) do not permit two-letter-domains or they are all taken as at .com.

Two letter domain names are also not common at .aero. Dotaero made (with the permission of ICANN) an exclusive exemption for the airlines.

The IATA code is a condition to get the two-letter-aero-domain name.

The two-letters aero-domains are recommended by experts, not only for a specialized targeted group, but also for the broad public such two character domains are a good advertising tool, as people easily remember such short domain names. SITA stresses also the importance of industrial codes as aero-domains:" SITA has established a .aero initiative that will allow passengers to benefit from simplified access to critical online information regarding their travel arrangements. Currently passengers searching online must navigate through complex web sites and search engines before finding the information specific to their flight. Implementation of .aero shortcuts, would allow travelers, through the application of existing aviation industry codes in the context of .aero, to benefit from direct, and simple access, to information related to their airline travel."

Airlines can use the two-character-aero domain name to print on the tickets, to paint on the airplanes or even for a special website about frequent traveler programs and offers. Many frequent travelers know already the IATA code by heart and will therefore use a domain name with the IATA code.

SITA has several examples for the advantages of aero shortcuts: "With the exclusive access that aviation has to its own top level domain, application of .aero shortcuts aims to provide fast and predictable access to operational information for airlines, airports and suppliers, and to allow immediate access to flight schedules, flight status, parking, ground transportation, or duty free information. For example, a passenger needing to make a flight connection will be able to use their mobile phone to access, within seconds and with one link, the information about their flight simply by typing, for example, nw1234.aero. As another example, passengers will also be able to find parking information by just typing parking.gva.aero on their PDA."

BA.aero, NW.aero and CX.aero have been already registered.

Airlines and Airports can secure these short and rememorable names at

https://www.domainregistry.de/aero-domains.html (german)
https://www.domainregistry.de/aero.html (english)

Secura GmbH is an ICANN accredited registrar of Top Level Domains.

Source of news: Secura GmbH
Website: www.domainregistry.de