While other metropolitan cities in the country have already got swanky new international airports, Chennai will have to make do with its congested existing airport within the city and wait much longer to join the elite global aviation map. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Monday said his government would drop the proposed Parandur greenfield airport project, on which the previous DMK government had already commenced work and begun acquisition of land as well. Vijay justified the decision saying this was required to minimise impact on agricultural land and residential habitations. However, he underscored that the State needs a new airport to meet Chennai’s growing aviation requirements. In a statement under Rule 110 in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Vijay said alternative locations had been identified through technical studies by various government departments and that the site for the new airport would be finalised after a detailed assessment. The Chief Minister said he had personally visited Parandur on January 20, 2025 (as political party leader), and met residents to hear their concerns. He said he had subsequently made his position clear that the project should not proceed in a manner that adversely affects agricultural lands or people’s residences. “Considering the views expressed by the people, the government has undertaken efforts to identify alternative locations,” Vijay said, adding that the exercise was aimed at ensuring that the new airport could be established without affecting agricultural land and habitations to the extent possible.
The Chief Minister, however, stressed that Chennai would require additional airport capacity. The existing Chennai airport, operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), currently has the capacity to handle about 30 million passengers annually, he said. With the city’s passenger traffic and economic activity expected to grow, a new airport would be necessary to meet future demand. At the same time, the government has decided to expand capacity at the existing airport. Vijay said a new Terminal-5 is being planned with an annual handling capacity of 20 million passengers. The terminal will be developed in coordination with the AAI, along with associated facilities, including runway and other infrastructure works. The existing Terminal-3 has a capacity to handle 35 million passengers annually, he said. Once Terminal-5 becomes operational, Chennai airport’s annual passenger-handling capacity would rise to 55 million. The new greenfield airport would subsequently be developed to cater to the longer-term requirement for air passenger capacity.
