FreightUtils MCP Server

airport_lookup

Read-onlyIdempotent

Find an airport by IATA code, ICAO code, or name/city search. Returns location, type, and other reference details for identifying airports worldwide.

Instructions

Look up an airport by IATA code (3 letters, e.g. "LHR"), ICAO code (4 chars, e.g. "EGLL"), or free-text name/city search (e.g. "heathrow"). Covers 85,555 airports worldwide (OurAirports, public domain, cross-checked vs OpenFlights + Wikidata).

Provide ONE of iata, icao, or query; the optional type filter narrows results. Behavior: read-only; exact code hits return one record; ambiguous name searches return ranked candidates (exact codes first, then larger airports) with match quality reported via the envelope's confidence (basis match_quality); an unknown code errors with a not-found message. Rate-limited: a limit error carries reset_at, the UTC time the allowance resets.

Returns: count and results[] — per airport: IATA + ICAO/ident, name, type (large/medium/small/heliport/closed/seaplane), municipality, region, country, latitude/longitude and elevation_ft — under result, plus confidence, _source and citation (the FreightUtils v1 response envelope).

Limitations: reference data only — not for navigation; verify operationally critical codes with IATA / ICAO.

Related: nearest_airport (find airports FROM a coordinate), airline_lookup (searches CARRIERS / AWB prefixes, not airports), unlocode_lookup (general transport locations, of which airports are one function).

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`iata`	No	Exact 3-letter IATA code. Example: "LHR".
`icao`	No	Exact 4-character ICAO / ident. Example: "EGLL".
`type`	No	Optional filter by airport type.
`query`	No	Name / city / municipality search (min 2 chars). Example: "heathrow".

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`ok`	Yes
`result`	Yes
`_source`	Yes
`citation`	Yes
`validity`	No
`warnings`	No
`confidence`	Yes
`blocking_errors`	No
`envelope_version`	Yes
`normalized_input`	No

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed5 schema fields changedv2.17.2Aug 21, 2026
- addedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / authority_current_edition
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "string"
+}
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / checked_at
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "string"
+}
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / dataset_edition
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "string"
+}
```
- removedOutput schema / properties / envelope_version / const
```
Removed value: -"1"
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / envelope_version / enum
```
Added value: +[
+  "1",
+  "1.1"
+]
```

Changed28 schema fields changedv2.11.0Jul 10, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / iata / description

Previous value: -"Exact 3-letter IATA code"New value: +"Exact 3-letter IATA code. Example: \"LHR\"."

changedInput schema / properties / icao / description

Previous value: -"Exact 4-character ICAO / ident"New value: +"Exact 4-character ICAO / ident. Example: \"EGLL\"."

changedInput schema / properties / query / description

Previous value: -"Name / city / municipality search (min 2 chars)"New value: +"Name / city / municipality search (min 2 chars). Example: \"heathrow\"."

changedInput schema / properties / type / description

Previous value: -"Optional filter by airport type"New value: +"Optional filter by airport type."

removedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / authority
```
Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}
```
addedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / checked
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "string"
+}
```
removedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / data_vintage
```
Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}
```
removedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / dataset
```
Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}
```
removedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / licence
```
Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}
```
addedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / name
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "string"
+}
```

addedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / provenance_status

Added value: +{
+  "enum": [
+    "verified",
+    "pending-verification",
+    "computed",
+    "live"
+  ],
+  "type": "string"
+}

removedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / retrieved_via
```
Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}
```
removedOutput schema / properties / _source / properties / type
```
Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}
```

changedOutput schema / properties / _source / required

Previous value: -[
-  "type",
-  "authority"
-]New value: +[
+  "name",
+  "checked",
+  "provenance_status"
+]

addedOutput schema / properties / blocking_errors

Added value: +{
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "properties": {
+      "code": {
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "message": {
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "recovery": {
+        "additionalProperties": false,
+        "properties": {
+          "action": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "params": {
+            "additionalProperties": {},
+            "type": "object"
+          },
+          "tool": {
+            "type": "string"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "action"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "code",
+      "message",
+      "recovery"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / citation

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "properties": {
+    "qualifier": {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "text": {
+      "type": "string"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "text"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / confidence

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "properties": {
+    "basis": {
+      "enum": [
+        "deterministic",
+        "provenance",
+        "match_quality",
+        "freshness"
+      ],
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "level": {
+      "enum": [
+        "high",
+        "medium",
+        "low"
+      ],
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "score": {
+      "maximum": 1,
+      "minimum": 0,
+      "type": "number"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "level",
+    "basis"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

removedOutput schema / properties / count

Removed value: -{
-  "type": "number"
-}

removedOutput schema / properties / disclaimer
```
Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}
```

addedOutput schema / properties / envelope_version

Added value: +{
+  "const": "1",
+  "type": "string"
+}

removedOutput schema / properties / meta

Removed value: -{
-  "additionalProperties": {},
-  "type": "object"
-}

addedOutput schema / properties / normalized_input

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": {},
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / ok
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "boolean"
+}
```

addedOutput schema / properties / result

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "additionalProperties": true,
+      "properties": {
+        "count": {
+          "type": [
+            "number",
+            "null"
+          ]
+        },
+        "disclaimer": {
+          "type": [
+            "string",
+            "null"
+          ]
+        },
+        "meta": {
+          "anyOf": [
+            {
+              "additionalProperties": {},
+              "type": "object"
+            },
+            {
+              "type": "null"
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        "results": {
+          "anyOf": [
+            {
+              "items": {
+                "additionalProperties": true,
+                "properties": {
+                  "country": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "string",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "country_name": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "string",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "elevation_ft": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "number",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "iata_code": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "string",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "ident": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "string",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "latitude": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "number",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "longitude": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "number",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "municipality": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "string",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "name": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "string",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "region": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "string",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  },
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": [
+                      "string",
+                      "null"
+                    ]
+                  }
+                },
+                "type": "object"
+              },
+              "type": "array"
+            },
+            {
+              "type": "null"
+            }
+          ]
+        }
+      },
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    {
+      "additionalProperties": {},
+      "type": "object"
+    }
+  ]
+}

removedOutput schema / properties / results

Removed value: -{
-  "items": {
-    "additionalProperties": false,
-    "properties": {
-      "country": {
-        "type": "string"
-      },
-      "country_name": {
-        "type": [
-          "string",
-          "null"
-        ]
-      },
-      "elevation_ft": {
-        "type": [
-          "number",
-          "null"
-        ]
-      },
-      "iata_code": {
-        "type": [
-          "string",
-          "null"
-        ]
-      },
-      "ident": {
-        "type": "string"
-      },
-      "latitude": {
-        "type": "number"
-      },
-      "longitude": {
-        "type": "number"
-      },
-      "municipality": {
-        "type": [
-          "string",
-          "null"
-        ]
-      },
-      "name": {
-        "type": "string"
-      },
-      "region": {
-        "type": [
-          "string",
-          "null"
-        ]
-      },
-      "type": {
-        "type": "string"
-      }
-    },
-    "required": [
-      "ident",
-      "iata_code",
-      "name",
-      "type",
-      "municipality",
-      "region",
-      "country",
-      "country_name",
-      "latitude",
-      "longitude",
-      "elevation_ft"
-    ],
-    "type": "object"
-  },
-  "type": "array"
-}

addedOutput schema / properties / validity

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "properties": {
+    "as_of": {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "effective_from": {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "effective_to": {
+      "type": [
+        "string",
+        "null"
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "as_of"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / warnings

Added value: +{
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "properties": {
+      "code": {
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "details": {
+        "additionalProperties": {},
+        "type": "object"
+      },
+      "message": {
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "code",
+      "message"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

changedOutput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "count",
-  "results",
-  "disclaimer",
-  "_source"
-]New value: +[
+  "envelope_version",
+  "ok",
+  "result",
+  "confidence",
+  "_source",
+  "citation"
+]

Addedv2.10.0Jun 24, 2026

TDQS

A4.8/5.0

Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already declare readOnly/idempotent/non-destructive, but the description goes well beyond them: exact code hits return one record, ambiguous searches return ranked candidates with confidence (basis match_quality), unknown codes raise a not-found error, and rate limiting surfaces reset_at. Error and rate-limit semantics are exactly the kind of context annotations cannot carry.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Well front-loaded: identification and input rule come first, behavior and limitations after. The 'Returns:' block enumerates fields that the output schema already defines, which is mild redundancy, but the sectioning keeps it scannable and no sentence is filler.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

For a reference-lookup tool with annotations and an output schema present, this covers the remaining agent-facing questions: input exclusivity, matching/ranking behavior, error shape, rate-limit signaling, and a data-accuracy limitation. Nothing needed to call it correctly is missing.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 100%, so the per-parameter syntax is already documented and the baseline is 3. The description adds real semantics the schema does not encode: the exactly-one-of constraint among iata/icao/query and the fact that type narrows rather than selects. It stops short of explaining tie-breaking or match-quality thresholds.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

States a specific verb and resource (look up an airport) plus the three accepted lookup keys and the dataset scope (85,555 airports). It explicitly differentiates itself from nearby siblings: nearest_airport (coordinate-based), airline_lookup (carriers/AWB, not airports), unlocode_lookup (general transport locations). An agent can route correctly without opening any schema.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

Gives an explicit selection rule — 'Provide ONE of iata, icao, or query' — and explains what the optional type filter does. The Related section names each alternative and the condition that selects it, including a clear when-not for airline_lookup and unlocode_lookup.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.