The southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu is to build a second airport to meet the growing air travel demand.

Construction is likely to start by the end of this year, said Zhou Laizhen, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), on Thursday.

Chengdu will be the third Chinese city, after Beijing and Shanghai, with two airports.

Pan Gangjun, president of Sichuan Airport Group, said passenger throughput in Chengdu will reach 62 million in 2020, in excess of 50 million capacity of the current airport.

The new airport will be located in Jianyang, 50 km southeast of downtown Chengdu. The cost is estimated at 69.2 billion yuan (11.2 billion U.S. dollars).

The new airport will have three runways, a 600,000 square meter terminal and 157 aircraft stands. It is expected to handle up to 40 million passengers and 700,000 tonnes of cargo per year in 2025.

Chengdu has routes to 189 cities, including 70 overseas. On May 2, Chengdu opened a route to Moscow, its fourth direct service to Europe.