Kaohsiung International Airport is an air transportation hub in southern Taiwan. It was initially established during the Japanese colonial era. After Retrocession in 1945 it became a training base for the Air Force. In 1965 the Civil Aeronautics Administration took control and started offering domestic air transportation services to the public. After that international airfreight service was launched in 1969. In 1972 the Domestic Terminal was completed and international passenger service was launched as well. But it was the opening of the International Terminal in January 1997 that marked the completion of the airport's core infrastructure. KIA is located in the Siaogang District of Kaohsiung City near Kaohsiung Harbor and is 9 kilometers from the city center. An excellent airport access network is one of the airport's features, including taxi ranks, city buses, long distance coach services and the Kaohsiung MRT system.