The airlines bases, air traffic control offices and aviation oil facilities - on the periphery of the new airport - are under construction at full speed, and are scheduled to be put into use together with the new airport, Xu added.

The Jiaodong airport is ranked as 4F, internationally the highest level for an airport and the same ranking as Beijing Capital International Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Big civil aviation aircraft including the jumbo Airbus 380 and Boeing 747 can take off and land at the new airport.

By 2045, when both of the airport's phases are completed, Jiaodong will be able to serve about 55 million passengers a year and handle about 1 million metric tons of cargo per year, allowing 452,000 landing and takeoffs.

The new Qingdao airport is also designed as a "comprehensive transportation hub featuring seamless transfer to public transportation", officials said.

The terminal building will be home to stations for a high-speed railway, subways and buses, which will make it possible for passengers to reach the city center of Qingdao within an hour and get to other major cities on the Jiaodong Peninsula within two hours.