VIANG JAN, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Laos will start construction of its new Luang Phra Baang airport next year and put it into operation in 2013, Khampheng Saysompheng, Vice Chairman of Luang Phra Baang province has said.

The cost of building the new airport is estimated at US$86.4 million, provided by a special credit from the Chinese government under an agreement reached during a recent visit to China by Lao President Chummaly Saynhason.

The new airport will have a 3,000m of runway, parallel with the existing ones. It will be capable of accommodating large-sized aircraft like the Airbus 380, reported Laotian news agency KPL.

The new airport is expected to fuel tourism, the attraction of foreign investment, and socio-economic development in the province.

Thanks to direct flights from Luang Phra Baang to Hanoi, in Vietnam, Bangkok, Udon Thani, Chiang Mai in Thailand and Siem Reap in Cambodia, up to 70 percent of tourists come to Luang Phra Baang"listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site--by air.