When would the construction of the second portion of a new integrated terminal at Chennai airport get completed?
For the last 2 years, international flyers at the Chennai airport have been using only one portion of the new integrated terminal. Now, there is a surprising piece of information for them and it would make them happy.
The AAI or Airport Authority of India has now made it clear that the construction of the second portion of a new integrated terminal at the Chennai airport would be completed by March in 2026. It also revealed that only by June 2026 it would be opened for public use.
To scale up the terminal space for accommodating more flyers, the AAI had taken up phase 2 modernisation work at the Chennai airport about 6 years back for an mammoth amount of Rs 2467 crores. It is learnt that the Chennai airport`s aim was to handle 35 million passengers in a year from the current 23 million passengers in a year.
The Civil Aviation minister Mr. V.K. Singh in 2023 spoke about how the probable date of completion of phase 2 works would be July 2025. Afterwards, AAI mentioned that the work would get over only by December 2025.
Truth is that few issues have led to the delay in completing the work. In the beginning, excavation was a huge challenge due to the presence of hard rock. This slowed down the work. Later on, there was an issue regarding the contractor about the increase in the costs. The official from AAI explained that the work began 6 years back and the cost of the materials for construction at that time was taken into account. He added that the prices of construction materials have gone up with time. He concluded that the contractor wanted them to bear the escalation in the costs also and sorting out the issue took time.
After inauguration, the terminal cannot be opened immediately. It is noteworthy that after inauguration shifting and setting up of several facilities plus a thorough inspection would take some more time. Hence, AAI mentioned that the terminal would be ready by June 2026.
