Xiamen is preparing to build a second airport, which will have the capacity to handle 45 million passengers when it opens.

An environmental impact assessment has been released to the public, as work gets underway for the construction of two parallel runways, and a 550,000sqm passenger terminal. The runways will be 3,600m and 3,800m long.

The new airport will be located on Dadeng Island, in the Xiang’an district. It will be about 25km from the Xiamen city centre.

In a statement, the six firms who have been tasked with the project says construction of the new airport is “imperative”, to meet the air transport growth and needs of the Xiamen region.

Local media reports say construction of the new airport is due to start at the end of the year, and that the target is for it to be operational in 2020.

Source: Cirium Dashboard