New Chengdu Airport to open in 2018, Chengdu Shuangliu to reach saturation by 2015/2016

China's Sichuan Development and Reform Commission director and National People's Congress deputy director Tang Limin stated the proposed new Chengdu Airport will have five runways and will have capacity to handle 80 million passengers p/a, more than twice the capacity of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, which has two runways and capacity for 38 million passengers p/a. According to Carnoc.com, construction work on the new airport is expected to be completed by the end of 2017 and commence operations in 2018. Passenger numbers at Chendu Shuangliu is forecasted to reach saturation by 2015/2016, according to Mr Tang.