Mexico City - Mexico plans a new $9.15 billion international airport which will eventually handle 120 million passengers a year, quadrupling the congested current hub's capacity, President Enrique Peña Nieto said on Tuesday.

In his annual state-of-the-nation address, Peña Nieto said the new Mexico City airport would have six runways, as Reuters reported in June, up from the two the current airport has. It could eventually surpass the world's busiest airport in Atlanta, Georgia, which handled over 94 million passengers last year.

Peña Nieto said he would present on Wednesday the airport plan, which aims to ease delays at the current hub, the Benito Juarez International Airport.

Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto addresses the audience during his second State of the Union address at the National Palace in Mexico City, September 2, 2014.

Peña Nieto did not say how quickly the airport would reach its targeted capacity, nor when construction would begin. The current hub handled 31.5 million passengers in 2013.

Without a new airport, the government is concerned Mexico may lose competitiveness.

"The current saturation restricts communication within the country, limits Mexico's connectivity to the world, restrains trade and investment, and creates delays for users," Peña Nieto said at an event in Mexico City.

"We cannot keep postponing a serious solution," he added.