Aerial View Of Airport Runway

Runways in North America that lie within the Northern Domestic Airspace are, because of the magnetic North Pole, usually numbered according to true north.
For clarity in radio communications, each digit is communicated individually: runway three six, runway one four, etc. A leading zero, for example in "runway zero six" or "runway zero one left", is included for International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and some United States military airports (such as Edwards Air Force Base). However in the United States at most civil aviation airports, the leading zero is often dropped: "runway niner" (the number nine is "niner" to avoid confusion with the spoken number "five") or "runway four right". This also includes some military airfields such as Cairns Army Airfield. This American anomaly may lead to inconsistencies in conversations between American pilots and controllers in other countries. It is very common in a country such as Canada for a controller to clear an incoming American aircraft to, for example, Runway 04, and the pilot read back the clearance as Runway 4. In flight simulation programs those of American origin might apply U.S. usage to airports around the world. For example Runway 05 at Halifax will appear on the program as the single digit 5 rather than 05. Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, England. The runway is 08