Runway designators
Runways are numbered by their magnetic heading rounded to the nearest ten degrees, with the last digit dropped. Runway 27 points to about 270°. The reciprocal end is always 18 higher or lower — 27 and 09 are the same strip of asphalt.
Markings
The threshold has piano-key stripes. The aiming point is a pair of thick blocks about 300 m in. Touchdown-zone stripes bracket the target. Displaced thresholds and blast pads are marked with chevrons and arrows and are not usable for landing.
Lighting
Edge lights are white, centreline lights white with red alternation near the end, and the last 300 m is red. Approach lighting and PAPI lights give vertical guidance: two white and two red means on slope.
Key points
- Runway number = magnetic heading / 10, rounded.
- PAPI: two red two white = on the correct 3° slope.
- Parallel runways get L, C and R suffixes.
Knowledge check