diff --git a/Nasal/canvas/api.nas b/Nasal/canvas/api.nas
index 2c864a850..5e0511eba 100644
--- a/Nasal/canvas/api.nas
+++ b/Nasal/canvas/api.nas
@@ -319,16 +319,25 @@ var Group = {
   # type can be group, text
   createChild: func(type, id = nil)
   {
-    var factory = me._element_factories[type];
-    
+    var factory = me._getFactory(type);
     if( factory == nil )
-    {
-      debug.dump("canvas.Group.createChild(): unknown type (" ~ type ~ ")");
       return nil;
-    }
-    
+
     return factory([me._node, type], id);
   },
+  # Create multiple children of given type
+  createChildren: func(type, count)
+  {
+    var factory = me._getFactory(type);
+    if( factory == nil )
+      return [];
+
+    var nodes = me._node.addChildren(type, count, 0, 0);
+    for(var i = 0; i < count; i += 1)
+      nodes[i] = factory(nodes[i], nil); # TODO id. Maybe <base id>-<index>?
+
+    return nodes;
+  },
   # Get a vector of all child elements
   getChildren: func()
   {
@@ -386,6 +395,15 @@ var Group = {
   {
     # Create element from existing node
     return me._element_factories[ node.getName() ](node, nil);
+  },
+  _getFactory: func(type)
+  {
+    var factory = me._element_factories[type];
+
+    if( factory == nil )
+      debug.dump("canvas.Group.createChild(): unknown type (" ~ type ~ ")");
+
+    return factory;
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/Nasal/canvas/map/taxiways.draw b/Nasal/canvas/map/taxiways.draw
index 0980c064c..6cfaf337f 100644
--- a/Nasal/canvas/map/taxiways.draw
+++ b/Nasal/canvas/map/taxiways.draw
@@ -1,40 +1,41 @@
 var draw_taxiways = func(group, apt, lod) {     # TODO: the LOD arg isn't stricly needed here, 
                                                 # the layer is a conventional canvas group, so it can access its map 
                                                 # parent and just read the "range" property to do LOD handling
-    group.set("z-index",-100); # HACK: we need to encapsulate this
+    group.set("z-index",-100) # HACK: we need to encapsulate this
+         .set("stroke", "none");
     # var group = group.createChild("group", "apt-"~apt.id); #FIXME: we don't need to use two nested groups for each taxiway - performance?
     # group = group.createChild("group", "taxiways");
      # print("drawing taxiways for:", apt.id);
     # Taxiways drawn first so the runways and parking positions end up on top.
-      foreach(var taxi; apt.taxiways)
-      {
-        var clr = SURFACECOLORS[taxi.surface];
-        if (clr == nil) { clr = SURFACECOLORS[0]};
 
-        var icon_taxi =
-          group.createChild("path", "taxi")
-                    .setStrokeLineWidth(0)
-                    .setColor(clr.r, clr.g, clr.b)
-                    .setColorFill(clr.r, clr.g, clr.b);
+    # Preallocate all paths at once to gain some speed
+    var taxi_paths = group.createChildren("path", size(apt.taxiways));
+    var i = 0;
+    foreach(var taxi; apt.taxiways)
+    {
+      var clr = SURFACECOLORS[taxi.surface];
+      if (clr == nil) { clr = SURFACECOLORS[0]};
 
-        var txi = Runway.new(taxi);
-        var beg1 = txi.pointOffCenterline(0,  0.5 * taxi.width);
-        var beg2 = txi.pointOffCenterline(0, -0.5 * taxi.width);
-        var end1 = txi.pointOffCenterline(taxi.length,  0.5 * taxi.width);
-        var end2 = txi.pointOffCenterline(taxi.length, -0.5 * taxi.width);
+      var txi = Runway.new(taxi);
+      var beg1 = txi.pointOffCenterline(0,  0.5 * taxi.width);
+      var beg2 = txi.pointOffCenterline(0, -0.5 * taxi.width);
+      var end1 = txi.pointOffCenterline(taxi.length,  0.5 * taxi.width);
+      var end2 = txi.pointOffCenterline(taxi.length, -0.5 * taxi.width);
 
-        icon_taxi.setDataGeo
-        (
-          [ canvas.Path.VG_MOVE_TO,
-            canvas.Path.VG_LINE_TO,
-            canvas.Path.VG_LINE_TO,
-            canvas.Path.VG_LINE_TO,
-            canvas.Path.VG_CLOSE_PATH ],
-          [ beg1[0], beg1[1],
-            beg2[0], beg2[1],
-            end2[0], end2[1],
-            end1[0], end1[1] ]
-        );
-      }
+      taxi_paths[i].setColorFill(clr.r, clr.g, clr.b)
+                   .setDataGeo
+                   (
+                     [ canvas.Path.VG_MOVE_TO,
+                       canvas.Path.VG_LINE_TO,
+                       canvas.Path.VG_LINE_TO,
+                       canvas.Path.VG_LINE_TO,
+                       canvas.Path.VG_CLOSE_PATH ],
+                     [ beg1[0], beg1[1],
+                       beg2[0], beg2[1],
+                       end2[0], end2[1],
+                       end1[0], end1[1] ]
+                   );
+      i += 1;
+    }
 }
 
diff --git a/Nasal/props.nas b/Nasal/props.nas
index 5c8aea147..da8531f75 100644
--- a/Nasal/props.nas
+++ b/Nasal/props.nas
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ var Node = {
     getChild       : func wrap(_getChild(me._g, arg)),
     getChildren    : func wrap(_getChildren(me._g, arg)),
     addChild       : func wrap(_addChild(me._g, arg)),
+    addChildren    : func wrap(_addChildren(me._g, arg)),
     removeChild    : func wrap(_removeChild(me._g, arg)),
     removeChildren : func wrap(_removeChildren(me._g, arg)),
     getAliasTarget : func wrap(_getAliasTarget(me._g, arg)),