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A new tag (ICAO code for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol) was created today and added to 5 questions.

Do we need such tags? Should similar tags be created for other airports (e.g. "Heathrow" is mentioned in 206 Q&As)? Or should the new tag be removed again?

Note that we have agreed on individual airplane tags, but I don't think the same arguments hold for airports.

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    $\begingroup$ Side note: If we choose to have airport tags, please nobody go on archeology missions to retag all old questions in 1 go. Limit it to a few a day please. $\endgroup$
    – Jamiec Mod
    Dec 8, 2022 at 12:42
  • $\begingroup$ @Jamiec good point, I'll edit that in to my answer. $\endgroup$
    – SQB
    Dec 9, 2022 at 9:34

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Yes

As the creator of the tag, I think we could use these. To me, a tag is like a Bat-signal to attract the right experts. I was surprised there weren't any airport tags yet.

And someone may be an expert on a specific airport, either by regularly flying from there, working there, by living in the vicinity and spotting there on a regular basis, or just by having developed an interest in that airport. Either way, if someone is interested in an airport, they should be able to follow that tag to make sure they don't miss a question.

I think they could also be helpful when searching. Although searching on either the code or the colloquial name would work, that would also turn up questions where a specific airport is just used as an example. Proper tag usage would solve that.

Because of course, these tags should only be used on questions that are actually about (an aspect of) that airport, not when the airport is merely mentioned but otherwise irrelevant to the question.

Counts

Here are some examples of airports and the number of questions that could use a tag.

  • Schiphol : 6 questions, mentioned in 19 more
  • Heathrow : mentioned in 69 questions, about half of which seem to be about the airport itself
  • JFK : mentioned in 68 questions, useful to distinguish between the airport and the crash of the N9253N flown by JFK jr.
  • LAX : mentioned in 49 questions, about half of which seem to be about the airport itself
  • Singapore Changi Airport : 4 questions with "Changi" in it, 34 with "Singapore" and thus useful to bundle the questions about the airport and to distinguish between the airport and Singapore Airlines

Practical considerations

Like I wrote in chat, my proposal would be to use the ICAO code for the main tag, having the IATA code and the colloquial name as synonyms if needed.

Also, as Jamiec commented, we shouldn't go Indiana Jonesing through our old questions, swamping the home page with tag edits. A few a day would be better.

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    $\begingroup$ I would stress that tags should be added on questions that ask about the airport and specific features of the specific airport, not simply mention it. $\endgroup$
    – Federico
    Dec 15, 2022 at 14:09
  • $\begingroup$ @Federico absolutely! That's the big advantage tags have over searching: they filter out questions like "I was at Schiphol when I noticed blah." I've edited to stress that. $\endgroup$
    – SQB
    Dec 16, 2022 at 22:07
  • $\begingroup$ This is going to get interesting with tags like BUM, DOG, EEK, FAT, FUN, GAG, HOG, LOL, MAD, OMG, PEE, PIE, POO, SUX, UMM, WOW, YUM, and others... $\endgroup$
    – RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket
    Dec 17, 2022 at 3:06
  • $\begingroup$ @RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket you mean KBUM, HSDN, PAEE, KFAT, NGFU and so on? And only if there are any questions about them. $\endgroup$
    – SQB
    Dec 18, 2022 at 5:16
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, but as you noted, the ICAO codes aren't nearly as interesting. ;) One of my favourites is EEKE. The first time I saw that, I had to do a double-take. Your suggestion in your edit of using synonyms is a good one (IMO). $\endgroup$
    – RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket
    Dec 18, 2022 at 6:17

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