Beijing, Dec 25 : Beijing's new airport, the construction for which is set to start on Friday, will be fully operational in five years.

According to China Daily, the project, which was given final approval by the National Development and Reform Commission last week, will involve nearly 80 billion yuan (13.1 billion dollars) of investment, making it the costliest project in China's civil aviation history.

The airport, which is yet to be named, will have the space to accommodate 72 million passengers, 2 million metric tons of cargo and 620,000 flights annually after 2025.

The construction work of the airport will begin tomorrow in Daxing district, 46 km south of Tian'anmen Square.

With four runways, 150 parking aprons for passenger jets, 24 parking aprons for cargo aircraft, 14 maintenance areas and a terminal building with a floor area of 700,000 square meters, the airport will be functional by the end of
2019. (ANI)