Urumqi International Airport in Xinjiang expects to expand next year to meet the increasing demand of passengers, according to a local government official.

The project, worth 40 billion yuan (US$6.03 billion), will include construction of two long-distance airstrips and add nearly 550,000 square meters of new terminal, said Zhang Chunlin, director of the region's Development and Reform Commission at the 17th Lanting Forum on Wednesday.

"We will, hopefully, kick off the construction in the second half of the year. After completion, it will surely improve traffic linkages and benefit passengers at home and abroad," Zhang said.

When the project is completed, the airport will have the capacity to handle 48 million passengers annually. Now it can handle 16.3 million passengers per year.

In March, the project's feasibility study report was submitted to regional development and reform commission officials for review.

The Urumqi-based international airport serves as an important civil aviation transportation airport and air traffic hub in western China. It's been expanded three times since it came into service in 1973.