Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Tuesday revealed ambitious plans for a new airport in Mexico City that, once complete, would be the biggest in Latin America.

Pena Nieto said the $9.2 billion airport would serve as a regional hub, increasing tourism in Mexico and lower transportation costs, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Specific details should be released soon.

Construction contracts are set to be awarded to a consortium of companies later this week and the airport is slated to be completed by late 2018 or early 2019. Mexican officials say the airport's construction will create 160,000 jobs.

"This project is at such a scale that many companies will compete and many will benefit," Javier Gayol, an analyst at Corporativo GBM SAB, told Bloomberg.

The new airport will allow more airlines to fly into Mexico than can land at Mexico City's current airport, Benito Juarez International Airport. As for Benito Juarez, it will eventually be shuttered and the terminals will be used for commercial development, while the remaining land will be turned into a park.

Passenger growth as Mexico City's current airport has held steady at 9 percent over the past three years, which indicates it is near a saturation point. Benito Juarez handled 31.5 million passengers in 2013, a third of which were international travelers.

The planned airport could accommodate around 50 million passengers a year, and expect an additional tourist revenue of $19.6 billion through 2040 due to the airport.

The site for the new airport is close to land where the Mexican government attempted to build a new airport in 2002, but was unable to do so after neighbors held a series of sometimes violent protests.

Part of the reason the residents protested the airport is because they were offered next to nothing for their farmland by the administration of former President Vicente Fox. The first phase of the new airport will be built on federally owned land and Mexican officials said farmers will be offered better prices for land needed for future expansion.