Editing Runway (section)

===Renumbering===
Runway designations may be changed over time as the Earth's magnetic field shifts and their headings shift with it. This is more common at higher latitudes: for example, [[Fairbanks International Airport]] in [[Alaska]] renames runways roughly every 24 years, most recently in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-16 |title=Airport Runway Names Shift with Magnetic Field |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/airport-runway-names-shift-magnetic-field |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) |language=en}}</ref> In northern Canada,<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 December 2024 |title=Designated Airspace Handbook |url=https://www.navcanada.ca/en/dah20241226.pdf |access-date=10 February 2025 |publisher=[[NAV CANADA]] |page=200 |format=PDF}}</ref> runways are designated based on true north, which avoids the need to update them.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 31, 2024 |title=Requirements for Navigation in Northern Domestic Airspace and Polar Regions |url=https://www.navcanada.ca/en/cnop-9.0-31-oct-2024.pdf |access-date=10 February 2025 |publisher=[[NAV CANADA]] |page=56 |format=PDF}}</ref> [[Nav Canada]], Canada's air navigation service provider, has advocated for an industry-wide switch to true north.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NAV CANADA Switching to TRUE: Pulling away from magnetic north |url=https://www.navcanada.ca/en/news/blog/switching-to-true-pulling-away-from-magnetic-north.aspx |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=www.navcanada.ca |language=en}}</ref>

As runways are designated with headings rounded to the nearest 10°, some runways are affected sooner than others; e.g. a hypothetical Runway&nbsp;23 with a heading of 226° would only have to shift to 224° to become Runway&nbsp;22. Because magnetic drift itself is slow, these changes are uncommon, and not welcomed, as they require accompanying changes in [[aeronautical chart]]s and descriptive documents. When a runway designation does change, it is often done at night, especially at major airports, because [[taxiway]] signs need to be changed and the numbers at each end of the runway need to be repainted to the new runway designators.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} In 2009 for example, [[London Stansted Airport]] in the United Kingdom changed its runway designation from 05/23 to 04/22 during the night.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-07-06 |title=Stansted Airport changes the name of its runway |url=https://www.dunmowbroadcast.co.uk/news/21684003.stansted-airport-changes-name-runway/ |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=Dunmow Broadcast |language=en}}</ref>