Definition
KAPA is the four-letter ICAO airport identifier for Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colorado. In ICAO format, the leading 'K' designates an airport in the contiguous United States, and 'APA' is the airport-specific code. The same airport is identified as 'APA' in three-letter FAA format.
Plain English
KAPA is the official four-letter code used to refer to Centennial Airport near Denver, Colorado, in flight plans, charts, and computer systems.
Context Anchor
Seen on airport/runway analysis pages, flight plans, charts, weather reports, and procedure documents when Centennial Airport is the airport being referenced.
Derivation
ICAO assigns each airport in the contiguous United States a four-letter code that begins with 'K' followed by the three-letter FAA identifier. So Centennial Airport's FAA code 'APA' becomes 'KAPA' in ICAO format. The 'K' prefix is what international flight planning systems expect.
Why Pilots Care
Flight planning software, ATC systems, and IFR flight plans require the ICAO four-letter form. Filing 'APA' instead of 'KAPA' on an international-format flight plan can cause the system to reject or misroute the plan.
Intuition Check
KAPA is not a calculation, runway type, or aircraft code. It is the specific airport identifier for Centennial Airport near Denver, Colorado.
Example Sentence 1
We filed IFR from KAPA to KCOS for the morning training flight.
Example Sentence 2
KAPA's published obstacle data confirmed adequate clearance margins during the takeoff calculation.