Chengdu will have its second international airport in operation by 2020 to become the third city in China to have two airports for commercial flights, after Beijing and Shanghai, if work proceeds on schedule.

Construction started last month and is expected to finish in 2019, according to the airport authority.

Pan Gangjun, general manager of the Sichuan Province Airport Group Co, said three runways will be built. The airport will able to handle 40 million passengers and 700,000 tons of cargo annually by 2025.