Beijing Capital International Airport, the country's biggest airport operator, plans an initial public offering of domestic A shares early next year to help fund the construction of a new airport near the Chinese capital, Reuters reported citing a Chinese newspaper.

The size of the IPO will exceed its previously announced plan to issue up to 800 million A shares, and will be followed by an offering of additional Hong Kong-listed H shares, China Business News said, citing Zhang Zhizhong, general manager of the company's parent group.

Zhang did not disclose the size of the planned H-share offering.

The company is awaiting government approval for the construction of a new airport, located either in the city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, or in the surrounding province of Hebei, Zhang was quoted as saying.

He did not say how much the new airport would cost.

The company said in 2006 it planned an A-share offering to help fund the purchase of a terminal and other assets from its parent group.

Beijing Airport's Hong Kong shares tumbled 5.35 percent in early trade to HK$5.84, compared with a 1.58 percent drop in Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI.