Bangkok  - Laos has signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korean firm Boon Young to conduct a feasibility study on their construction of a new international airport for the capital Vientiane, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The agreement was signed on December 5, said Radio Laos in a broadcast monitored in Bangkok.

The designated site for the new airport, to be built in 2015, is in Saythany district, about 40 kilometres east of the capital.

Wattay International Airport, Vientiane's current facility, is situated on the northern outskirts of the capital.

"The old airport is too close to the capital. In fact it is in the capital," said Yong Chanthalangsy, the spokesman for the Lao Foreign Ministry. (dpa)