Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport () is the main international airport serving Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, as well as the northern region. Located in Dayuan, Taoyuan, approximately 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 () and was renamed in 2006. 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.

In 2018, Taoyuan International Airport handled a record 46.5million passengers and 2.3billionkg (2.5milliontons) of freight, making it the 11th busiest airport worldwide by international passenger traffic, and 8th busiest in terms of international freight traffic in 2018. It is the main international hub for China Airlines, EVA Air and Starlux Airlines. It is also a hub of Mandarin Airlines, Uni Air and Tigerair Taiwan.

History By the 1970s, the original airport in Taipei City — Taipei Songshan Airport — had become overcrowded and could not be expanded due to space limitations. Thus, a new airport was planned to alleviate congestion. The new airport opened (with Terminal 1) on 26 February 1979, as part of the Ten Major Construction Projects pursued by the government in the 1970s. The airport was originally planned under the name Taoyuan International Airport but was later changed to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in memory of former President Chiang Kai-shek.

The airport is the main hub of China Airlines, the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s flag carrier, as well as EVA Air, a private airline established in 1989. Overcrowding of the airport in recent years prompted the construction of Terminal 2, which was opened on 29 July 2000, with half of its gates operational; EVA Air was the first airline to move into Terminal 2. The remaining gates opened on 21 January 2005 for China Airlines, making China Airlines the only airline to operate from both terminals.

The airport has announced construction plans for a third terminal. In October 2015, the design of British firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, founded by Pritzker Architecture Prize-laureate Richard Rogers, was chosen for the Terminal 3. Over US$2.3billion was to be spent on the project, among the most costly construction projects in modern Taiwanese history. The terminal is expected to be opened in 2026 and accommodate 45 million passengers per year, boosting the yearly capacity of the airport to 86 million passengers.

Formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, it was renamed in 2006 to its current name. The airport, originally planned as Taoyuan International Airport, bore the name of late President Chiang Kai-shek until 2006. In Chinese, its former name was literally "Chung-Cheng (Zhongzheng) International Airport", where Chung-Cheng is the legal given name that Chiang Kai-shek had used since the 1910s. In Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek is associated with the Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang and its many years of one-party authoritarian rule. Local officials in Taoyuan City and members of the Pan-Green Coalition often referred to the hub by the name originally associated with it: "Taoyuan International Airport". News organizations and local residents sometimes combined the two commonly used names as "Taoyuan Chung-Cheng Airport".

The Executive Yuan of then-President Chen Shui-bian's administration officially approved the name Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for the hub on 6 September 2006.BBC (Traditional Chinese) The opposition Kuomintang, which together with its political allies held a one-vote majority in the Legislative Yuan, decried the change and proposed "Taiwan Taoyuan Chiang Kai-shek International Airport" instead. The disagreement, like those affecting the names of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and other landmarks in Taiwan, stands as another manifestation of the Taiwan localization efforts by pan-Green officials and resistance against it by Pan-Blue Coalition.

Terminals Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport currently has two terminals, which are connected by two short people movers. The third terminal is under construction, while the fourth terminal is planned, however plans may be halted. The Taoyuan Airport MRT links the terminals together underground, and provides transportation to Taipei City.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 is the original passenger terminal of the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The building was designed by Chinese-born, Taiwanese-American structural engineer Tung-Yen Lin and influenced by Eero Saarinen's Dulles International Airport Main Terminal. The five-storey, terminal, along with the airport, opened in 1979 to relieve the overcrowded Taipei Songshan Airport.

After the completion of Terminal 2, some gates from Terminal 1 were removed to make space for Terminal 2. Currently, Terminal 1 has 18 gates. Alphabetical letters were introduced when Terminal 2 was completed. The North Concourse is now Concourse A, and the South Concourse is now Concourse B. Before Terminal 2, gates were numbered from 1 to 22. China Airlines uses Concourse A for the majority of its flights in Terminal 1, while the third largest carrier of the airport, Cathay Pacific, operates most of its flights at Concourse B.

In 2012, the renovation project of the terminal, designed by Japanese architect Norihiko Dan, was completed, doubling the floor area, expanding check-in counters, increasing shopping areas and expanding car-parking facilities. Part of the project was the complete redesigning of both the exterior and interior of the terminal. The capacity of Terminal 1 is 15 million passengers per year. This renovation received the 2014 Taiwan Architecture Award from the Taiwan Architects Association.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 opened in 2000 to reduce heavy congestion in the aging Terminal 1. Only the South Concourse had been completed by the time the terminal opened. The South Concourse alone has 10 gates, each with 2 jetways and their own security checkpoints. The North Concourse opened later in 2005, bringing the total number of gates for Terminal 2 to 20 gates; the security checkpoints were moved to a central location in front of the passport control. The 318,000-m2 facility is capable of handling 17 million passengers per year.

The Southern and Northern Concourses are also known as Concourse C and Concourse D, respectively. Terminals 1 and 2 are connected by two short people mover lines, with one from Concourse A to D and the other from B to C. China Airlines uses Concourse D for the majority of its flights in Terminal 2 while EVA Air uses Concourse C for most of its operations. Terminal 2 renovation was completed in 2020.

Terminal 3 (under construction)

Construction of Terminal 3 is part of the expansion project of Taoyuan International Airport. The 540,000 square meter Terminal 3 is designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and will accommodate 45 million passengers per year. The new terminal was originally planned to be opened in 2020. However, the project has been delayed, which postpones its targeted completion to end of 2026. South Korea's Samsung C&T owns 70% of the construction project, or $1.1 billion, while the remainder is held by Taiwan's RSEA Engineering.

Terminal 4 (plans halted) Originally part of the expansion project was a new Terminal 4. However, due to the vast amount of construction, the Ministry of Transportation ordered the airport company to halt the project in order to minimize traveller inconvenience.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Taoyuan International Airport:

Cargo

Statistics

+ Operations and statisticsYearPassengersAirfreightmovements (kg)Aircraftmovements 2016 42,296,322 2,097,228,422 244,464 2017 44,878,703 2,269,585,324 246,104 2018 46,535,180 2,322,820,028 256,069 2019 48,689,372 2,182,341,790 265,625 2020 7,438,325 2,342,714,268 118,449 2021 909,012 2,812,065,339 106,893 2022 5,342,448 2,538,768,310 112,496 2023 35,354,924 2,112,987,549 201,771 2024 44,921,996 2,270,973,770 247,918 2025 47,795,969 2,499,898,508 262,217

+ CapacityPassenger (T1 & T2 current)37,000,000Passenger (T1, T2 & T3 2025)82,000,000Cargo (current)1.7m tonnes

Busiest routes + Busiest routes (2025) Rank City Number of passengers % change 2025/24 Airport Passengers Carriers 2025 (largest carrier bolded) 1 Hong Kong 4,905,000 11.6% Hong Kong 4,905,000 China Airlines, EVA Air, Cathay Pacific, Greater Bay Airlines, HK Express, Hong Kong Airlines, Starlux 2 Tokyo 3,700,874 0.9% Narita 3,472,299 Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, EVA Air, Japan Airlines, Jetstar Japan, Peach, Scoot, Starlux, Thai Lion Air, Tigerair Taiwan Haneda 228,575 Peach, Tigerair Taiwan 3 Osaka 2,925,614 1.1% Kansai 2,925,614 AirAsia X, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, EVA Air, Jetstar Japan, Peach, Starlux, Thai Lion Air, Thai Vietjet, Tigerair Taiwan 4 Bangkok 2,747,310 2.9% Suvarnabhumi 2,427,898 China Airlines, EVA Air, Starlux, Thai Airways, Thai Vietjet Don Mueang 319,412 Thai Air Asia, Thai Lion Air 5 Seoul 2,453,298 5.7% Incheon 2,453,298 Asiana Airlines, China Airlines, EVA Air, Eastar Jet, Jeju Air, Jin Air, KLM, Korean Air, Scoot, Tigerair Taiwan 6 Singapore 1,994,149 3.9% Changi 1,994,149 China Airlines, EVA Air, Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Starlux 7 Manila 2,058,454 11.8% Ninoy Aquino 1,785,334 Cebu Pacific, China Airlines, EVA Air, KLM, Philippine Airlines, Philippines AirAsia, Royal Air Philippines, Starlux Clark 273,120 EVA Air, Starlux 8 Naha 1,568,890 24.3% Naha 1,568,890 Batik Air, China Airlines, EVA Air, Peach, Starlux, Thai AirAsia X, Thai Vietjet, Tigerair Taiwan 9 Shanghai 1,547,372 18.2% Pudong 1,547,372 Air China, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, EVA Air, Juneyao Air, Spring Airlines 10 1,465,301 9.4% Tan Son Nhat 1,465,301 China Airlines, EVA Air, Starlux, Vietjet Air, Vietnam Airlines 11 San Francisco 1,262,231 8.8% San Francisco 1,262,231 China Airlines, EVA Air, Starlux, United Airlines 12 Los Angeles 1,243,491 4.8% Los Angeles 995,840 China Airlines, EVA Air, Starlux Ontario 247,651 China Airlines, Starlux 13 Busan 1,176,498 27.3% Gimhae 1,176,498 Air Busan, China Airlines, EVA Air, Eastar Jet, Korean Air, Jeju Air, Jin Air, Tigerair Taiwan 14 Fukuoka 1,134,359 12.5% Fukuoka 1,134,359 Air Asia X, China Airlines, EVA Air, Starlux, Tigerair Taiwan 15 Sapporo 1,075,445 17.1% New Chitose 1,075,445 China Airlines, EVA Air, Scoot, Starlux, Thai AirAsia X, Thai Vietjet, Tigerair Taiwan 16 Hanoi 1,007,498 9.2% Noi Bai 1,007,498 China Airlines, EVA Air, Starlux, VietJet Air, Vietnam Airlines 17 Kuala Lumpur 987,015 9.1% 987,015 Air Asia X, Batik Air, China Airlines, EVA Air, Malaysia Airlines, Starlux 18 Macau 919,278 3.0% Macau 919,278 Air Macau, EVA Air, Starlux, Tigerair Taiwan 19 Nagoya 917,362 14.1% Chubu Centrair 917,362 Batik Air, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, EVA Air, Japan Airlines, Peach, Starlux, Thai Lion Air, Tigerair Taiwan 20 Seattle 764,214 73.3% Seattle 764,214 China Airlines, Delta Air Lines, EVA Air, Starlux