How Are Runways Numbered?
posted in General |Today's story about the crashed airliner got me to wondering again how runways are numbered, and this time I had my computer with me.
Runways are identified by direction, using the degrees of a compass, with 360 degrees being toward magnetic North. The direction a plane is traveling on the runway is rounded to the nearest ten degrees, then divided by ten. A runway headed almost due East, with a compass heading of 86 degrees, would be Runway Nine, or sometimes Zero Nine. Multiple digits are always said separately — a runway with the numbers "26" on the end would be called "Runway Two Six."
Also, since runways can be used in either direction, Runway Nine above would be known as Runway Two Seven if the plane was going the opposite direction.
Parallel runways are typically appended with "Left" or "Right;" parallel runways headed North would be "Three Six Left" and "Three Six Right."
For some airports, it's more complicated. A good article on the whole subject is here; Wikipedia is also a good source.
