Runway used

This column, if not blank, indicates which runway was used.

If the aircraft is a modern commercial aircraft then it will normally include extra information in its transmissions (speed, direction) which will in most cases allow the runway direction of the movement to be indicated. At Geneva the runway numbers, which roughly indicate the direction for a takeoff, are 23 and 05 : 23 represents a compass bearing of near to 230°, i.e. approximately North-East, whilst 05 represents a bearing of near to 50°, i.e. South-West (OK, you guessed that already!).

The background colour coding is quite simple : blue, for runway 05, indicates takeoffs over the (blue) lake, whilst green, for runway 23, indicates takeoffs over the (green) fields of western Geneva Canton. An in-between colour represents movements for which we have identified the aircraft as emitting speed and direction, but have not seen it near enough to the runway to be sure. Whatever the colour, any of these entries can be clicked to go directly to the trajectories site of DFLD.

Almost all aircraft which are old, business jets, helicopters or light aircraft will not indicate their speed and direction, and thus will not include any indication as to what runway was used. However, it is normally easy to deduce which direction was used, since movements tend to be all in the same direction for considerable periods of time (until the wind changes).