(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-30 20:46

BEIJING -- A second international airport is being planned in Beijing to ease traffic pressure, a top official with China's civil aviation administration confirmed on Wednesday.

The Beijing Capital International Airport, the only international airport in the host city of the upcoming Olympics, will have no further significant expansions, said Yang Guoqing, deputy head of China's General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC).

Yang told a press conference here that a new airport was necessary for Beijing and that the CAAC had submitted a report to the central government on site selection.

The airport, China's busiest, handled 50 million passengers between January 1 and early December, putting it among the world's 10 busiest airports.