In message , at 18:35:39 on Wed, 12
Oct 2011, Richard J. remarked:
We're all getting confused here. Bruce claimed that 08L/26R was really
just a taxiway because:

- it could be used as a runway only in emergencies. Not true: it is
used whenever 08R/26L is unavailable, e.g. during maintenance. 08L/26R
is routinely in use as the operational runway for 3 hours every
Thursday morning if no runway maintenance is scheduled for that week.

- absence of ILS. True, but nevertheless it has full ICAO designation
as a runway.

- absence of proper taxiways when it's in use as a runway. As Alistair
Gunn pointed out (but his post was misinterpreted by Graeme and
Charles), there is an additional taxiway to the north of 08L which
functions as a taxiway at all times (shown as Taxiway J on the
aerodrome chart).

Confused, yes some might be. But don't miss the essential point that
when people say Gatwick is a "one runway" airport, what that means is
"only one runway in operation at any particular time".
--
Roland Perry