SimpleSkies – Airport Code Finder

SimpleSkies is a lightweight web application that helps you find detailed information about airports by IATA code, airport name, or city. It provides an intuitive interface to quickly look up an airport and retrieve its name, location, elevation, and other key details. SimpleSkies is built with plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, using a comprehensive local dataset of airports – so it works offline and requires no external API. It’s an ideal tool for developers, aviation enthusiasts, or anyone who needs quick access to airport information. deployed here

Features

• Search by Code, Name, or City: Type JFK, Denver, or heathrow — ranked suggestions match codes first, then airport and city names.
• Keyboard-Navigable Suggestions: Arrow keys move through the suggestion dropdown, Enter selects, Escape dismisses. The dropdown is a fully accessible ARIA combobox.
• Rich Suggestions: Each suggestion shows the airport code, its name, and its city/region/country.
• Detailed Airport Information: Every result shows the airport’s name, location, elevation (in feet), ICAO code, IATA code, and timezone without sending users to external sites.
• Shareable Links: Successful lookups update the URL to #CODE (e.g. #LHR) — paste or bookmark the link and the airport opens instantly, even in a fresh tab.
• Recent Searches: Your last five lookups appear as one-click chips under the search box (stored locally; clear them any time).
• Surprise Me: The Surprise me button jumps to a random airport from the 7,590-airport dataset.
• Copy Details: One click copies the full six-field details block as plain text.
• Light/Dark Theme: The theme toggle switches instantly and your choice persists across visits; with no saved choice the app follows your OS prefers-color-scheme setting.
• Offline & Lightweight: All airport data is bundled locally in data.js and mirrored in data.json. No external calls are needed, making the application fast and usable offline. (Built with vanilla JS – no frameworks or libraries required.)

Installation

1. Prerequisites: All you need is a modern web browser. There are no additional dependencies or installations required.
2. Download the Project: Download this folder and keep all files together in the same directory.
3. Open the Application: Simply open the index.html file in your web browser to launch the app. The bundled data.js file lets the lookup work directly from the downloaded folder without a local server.

Usage

Using SimpleSkies is straightforward:

1. Launch the app by opening index.html in your browser, or visit the deployed site.
2. Search: Click the search box and type an IATA code (LAX), an airport name (heathrow), or a city (Denver). Suggestions appear as you type — each shows the code, airport name, and location.
3. Pick a result: Use the arrow keys to highlight a suggestion and press Enter (or click it), or press Enter on your full query to search. Exact code matches display immediately; name/city queries show a list of matches to choose from.
4. View Airport Details: The airport’s name, location, elevation, ICAO/IATA codes, and timezone appear below the search box. If nothing matches, the app tells you.
5. Share or revisit: The URL ends in the airport’s code (e.g. …/#LHR) — copy it to share, or paste any #CODE link into the address bar to open that airport directly.
6. Recent chips: Clear the search box to see your recent lookups as one-click chips. Clear removes them.
7. Extras: Click Surprise me for a random airport, or Copy in the result card to copy the details as text.
8. Toggle Theme (Optional): In the top-right corner, click the sun/moon icon to switch themes. Your choice is remembered; a fresh browser follows your OS preference.

Example: Entering JFK displays information for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, USA, along with its ICAO code KJFK, elevation, and timezone — and the URL becomes …/#JFK.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you’d like to improve SimpleSkies or add new features:

• Fork the repository to your GitHub account and clone it locally.
• Create a new branch for your feature or bug fix (git checkout -b feature/YourFeature).
• Make your changes or additions, with clear commit messages.
• Push the branch to your fork and open a Pull Request on this repository explaining your changes.

You can also open issues for any bugs or suggestions. Maintaining an up-to-date and comprehensive airport database or enhancing the user interface are just a couple of ways to contribute. Every bit of help is appreciated!

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute it. See the LICENSE file for details.