Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (Chinese: 臺灣桃園國際機場) (IATA: TPE, ICAO: RCTP) is the main international airport serving Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, as well as the northern region. Located in Dayuan, Taoyuan, approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of Taipei, the airport is the busiest and largest in Taiwan. In 2016, it was ranked the best airport for its size in the Asia-Pacific region by Airports Council International. The airport opened for commercial operations in 1979 as Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (中正國際機場) and was renamed in 2006 [3]. It is an important regional transshipment center, passenger hub, and gateway for destinations in Asia, and is one of two international airports that serves Taipei. The other, Taipei Songshan Airport, is located within the city limits and served as Taipei's only international airport until 1979 . Songshan now mainly serves chartered flights, intra-island flights, and limited international flights.