Backtaxi

Backtrack is an airport ground procedure which involves the use of the runway to be used for take-off as a taxiway. The term is used whenever an aircraft uses any portion of the runway as a taxiway and taxis in the opposite direction from which it will take off. The procedure is commonly used at smaller airports and private strips which may not have separate paved taxiways parallel to the runway.

An infamous and rare example of where backtracking was used for large commercial aircraft was the Tenerife disaster, where two Boeing 747s at Tenerife North Airport were required to backtaxi in order to position themselves for take-off. The ramps and taxiways were occupied by numerous parked aircraft which were detoured to Los Rodeos as a result of a bomb threat at Gran Canaria International Airport.