Dallas Fort Worth International Airport says it has completed its Southwest End-Around Taxiway ahead of schedule, adding a third such taxiway to its airfield infrastructure. The airport announced the completion on October 27, 2026.
Why an end-around taxiway matters
These taxiways give arriving aircraft a route around active runways, reducing the need to stop and wait for permission to cross them. The change concerns aircraft movements on the ground; it is not a new runway or a new passenger route.
In its completion announcement, DFW says end-around taxiways reduce taxi times by an average of four minutes. That is the airport’s stated benefit of the taxiway system, rather than an independently measured result for every flight using the new Southwest project.
Third project in a longer program
DFW completed its first end-around taxiway in the southeast part of the airfield in 2008. Its Northeast End-Around Taxiway opened in May 2022. The newly completed Southwest project is part of the airport’s DFW Forward capital program.
The airport says the Federal Aviation Administration has committed $180 million to the overall End-Around Taxiway program. That figure is not presented as the cost of the Southwest taxiway alone or as a new grant announced with this completion.
What completion means for travellers
A route that avoids an active runway crossing can help aircraft move between landing and the terminal more efficiently. Actual taxi times still depend on runway assignments, traffic and other operating conditions. DFW’s announcement does not give a separate date for the Southwest taxiway to enter operational use, so completion should not be read as confirmation of a specific first day in service.
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Archive airport context: DFW control tower and airfield with an American Airlines aircraft departing, May 27, 2012. This is not the new Southwest taxiway or current construction. Photo: © 2012 Larry D. Moore, own work, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Resized and compressed to WebP.
