Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (IATA: TPE, ICAO: RCTP) (traditional Chinese: 臺灣桃園國際機場; simplified Chinese: 台湾桃园国际机场; pinyin: Táiwān Táoyuán Gúojì Jīchǎng), also known as "Taipei International Airport", the largest airport in Taiwan, is an international airport located in Dayuan Township, Taoyuan County, Taiwan. It is one of four Taiwanese airports with regular international flights, and is by far the busiest international air entry point amongst them. It is the main international hub for China Airlines and EVA Air.
The airport opened for commercial operations in 1979 and is an important regional trans-shipment center, passenger hub, and gateway for destinations in mainland China and the rest of Asia. The airport was formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (CKS International Airport) until the name was changed in 2006 to its current name.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is one of two airports that serves Taipei and northern Taiwan; the other, Taipei Songshan Airport, is located within Taipei City limits and served Taipei as its international airport until 1979. Songshan now mainly serves chartered flights, most of which are to and from mainland China (see cross-strait charter), domestic flights, and some international flights.
Taiwan Taoyuan handled a total of 25,114,418 passengers in 2010. It is the fifteenth-busiest air freight hub in the world and thirteenth-busiest airport by international passenger traffic.
Read more about Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport: Origin of The Name, History, Terminals, Airlines and Destinations, Operations, Awards, Future Developments, Accidents and Incidents
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“Airplanes are invariably scheduled to depart at such times as 7:54, 9:21 or 11:37. This extreme specificity has the effect on the novice of instilling in him the twin beliefs that he will be arriving at 10:08, 1:43 or 4:22, and that he should get to the airport on time. These beliefs are not only erroneous but actually unhealthy.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)