Runway Numbering Philosophy
Not sure if Passengers and SLF is the best sub-forum for this question, but it seems like a good starting point.
I have a bit of a strange question about runway numbering philosophy for parallel runways (I do understand the numbers relate to magnetic heading). Obviously for a pair of parallel runways they are designated L and R, like Heathrow. And where there are three parallel runways, like Amsterdam for example, they are designated L, C (for centre) and R. But what happens when there are four or more parallel runways?
The reason I ask is that I have recently passed through the new Istanbul airport, which has 5 runways all of which appear, at first sight, to be parallel. But on the journey home I noticed that we took off from runway 36 (i.e. 18/36) – no suffix. I was curious about this so I looked up the actual runway numbers, which turn out to be 16 / 34 L & R, 17 / 35 L & R, and the aforementioned 18 / 36. And I assume, though willing to be corrected, that with more than three runways the designation of L, C and R can no longer be expanded and a different solution needs to be found. If I’m correct, are some of the runway numbers ‘notional’ or do they genuinely need to be built with a 1 degree change of orientation?