XINING - Northwestern China's Qinghai province, located on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, will be home to a new airport, said local sources on Sunday.

The under-construction Huatugou civil aviation airport is located in the Mongolian-Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Haixi. It will cover an area of 180 hectares, said the Qinghai Airport Company.

Investment in the airport has reached 700 million yuan (114 million US dollars).

The airport will have 3,600 meters of runway, with its terminal covering an area of about 3,000 square meters, according to the airport's project plan.

Flight tests at the airport are expected to start after construction is completed within the year.

The airport is located in China's major production base for petroleum and potash fertilizer. It is expected to support local development and improve the aviation network on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

The airport site is situated in the border region of Qinghai and Xinjiang. Multiple air routes will link the region to major cities in the province and neighboring Gansu province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.