Jacksonville Business Journal by Sarah Mueller
Monday, December 12, 2011

Two runways at Jacksonville International Airport will change identification numbers Thursday.

A magnetic north pole shift means new numbers for the runways. Runways are designated according to the points on a compass and the earth’s magnetic field is in a constant flux, according to a news release from the Jacksonville Aviation Authority.

The drifting requires periodic re-numbering. The runways will close separately on Tuesday and Wednesday as the existing 60-foot-long reflective numbers are blasted off and the new numbers are repainted in their place. Runway 13-31, which is 7,701 feet long, will become 14-32 and the 10,000-foot main runway will go from 7-25 to 8-26. The new numbers take effect at 12:01 a.m.

This is the first time that the runway numbers have had to be changed since the airport was built in 1968. JAA has worked on this project with the Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration for three years to coincide the changes with the North Pole drift and accurately realign with the points on a compass.

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