A bird view of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport.

Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, the biggest airport in West China once built, is about to start construction after getting approval from the National Development and Reform Commission, reported jiemian.com on Tuesday.

With a total investment of 71.86 billion yuan (around $11 billion), the new airport is the biggest civilian airport to be built during the 13th Five-Year Plan.

The airport is set to become the biggest one in West China and the fourth largest in China when it comes into service in 2020, said Pan Gangjun, general manager of Sichuan Airports Group.

Located in Jianyang city in Southwest China's Sichuan province, the new airport is 51.5 kilometers away from provincial capital Chengdu. Once completed, the airport will have six runways and a terminal covering 1.26 million square meters, which is more than twice the size of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, and it is able to accommodate 90 million passengers annually.

Three runways will be built in the first phase of the project which is set to be completed by 2025 and 40 million passengers will be transported annually. But it is not disclosed when the whole project will be finished.

Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport first exceeded Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in passenger volume in 2015, which made it the fourth busiest airport in China.

"After the completion of Tianfu Airport, the passenger volume of Shuangliu Airport will be at around 60 million annually," said Pan Gangjun, general manager of Sichuan Airports Group.

"Built as a national aerial hub, the new airport mainly hosts international airlines, especially those flying to the Europe and Middle East," added Pan.

Chengdu is within 15 hours' flight from most cities in the world.

According to an official of Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the new airport will attract investment and push forward the joint development of Yangtze River Economic Zone and the Silk Road Economic Belt.