Every time I’ve been to an airport and looked out the window, I see numbers and letters on the runways/taxiways. How are these numbers determined?
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The main runways of any airport are a two digit number based on degrees vs. magnetic north. So runway “20” is 200 degress, runway “13” is 130 degrees. It’s not that there are 13 different runways, most airports will only have 1 or 2, even the bigger ones. This way even a completely new pilot will know how to approach an airport without prior knowledge of the exact layout.
The taxiways are are a bit simpler. Each taxiway gets a letter designation in the Phonetic Alphabet, So Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta. etc. The intersections between taxiways and runways are numbered. So Alpha-2 is the second intersection on taxiway Alpha, and it might connect to runway 27, which is 270 degrees from magnetic north, or a Westerly heading.
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