Faleolo International Airport serves Apia, the capital of Samoa.
The airport is on Upolu, Samoa’s most populous and economically important island, about 40 kilometres west of Apia. Apia itself is on Upolu’s north coast, so the airport is outside the capital but functions as its principal international gateway. Its airport codes are APW and NSFA.
Faleolo became more capable of handling long-distance international traffic after expansion in the 1980s. Before 1984, its runway could not accommodate jets larger than a Boeing 737, limiting some international services and directing larger aircraft toward Pago Pago in American Samoa. Faleolo is therefore associated with Apia, not Honiara, Suva or Nukuʻalofa, which are capitals of other Pacific island countries.