CHENGDU -- Construction of the second airport in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu started on May 27 to meet growing air travel demand.
By 2019, when the first phase of construction is expected to be completed, Chengdu will be the third Chinese city, after Beijing and Shanghai, with two airports.
The new airport will be located in Jianyang, 50 km southeast of downtown Chengdu. The cost is estimated at over 70 billion yuan (10.7 billion U.S. dollars).
The new airport will have six runways and terminals covering 1,260,000 square meters and is expected to have an annual throughput of up to 90 million passengers, according to Dai Yongbo, deputy director of the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission.
Passenger throughput in Chengdu will reach 62 million in 2020, in excess of the capacity of the current airport, according to Dai.
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