A video aircraft identification algorithm, based on tail number recognition, is proposed as part of a global airport surveillance video system. The recognition procedure searches and detects the presence of the tail number in the image and then recognizes the tail number using pattern matching techniques. The identification system has been designed to deal with airport real images, taking into account letter size differences and potential deformations. Finally, the aircraft identification system calculates the joint probability of each tail number in the airport database. The tail number maximizing the joint probability is selected. Results show that the identification procedure achieves a robust identification using the database.