Chennai airport expansion plans - Whats the latest?
Posted on: 27/Sep/2022 9:59:08 AM
For further expansion of the Chennai airport, the officers belonging to Airport Authority of India or AAI and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation or TIDCO would be conducting a joint survey of 6 land parcels. By this, the demands of 55 million passengers would be met. This was according to Dr. Sharad Kumar, director, Chennai airport.
It is well known that AAI has requested the govt of TN to acquire 306 acres of land to build Internationald as well as cargo terminals present on the other side of Adyar River. The association of AAI and TIDCO comes at this important juncture. Recently, a meeting took place between the officials from TIDCO and AAI and in the meeting there was discussion about the availability of land for the Chennai airport expansion. To acquire land parcels, a letter has been sent by AAI to the TN government.
Information is that RITES and Alexandra Richter ARC Consulting are conducting a feasibility study and it would be completed in another 6 months. By December 2024, the second phase of modernisation of the airport is likely to get over. From catering to 22 million commuters now, the Chennai airport would cater to 35 million commuters.
For expanding the apron bays, the current cargo infrastructure would be modified. For aircraft to handle projected 55 million passengers, the Chennai airport after further expansion would need additional apron bays. It is worthy to mention that Chennai airport at present operates on 1317 acres of land and is the smallest when compared to other major airports in India.
Point to be noted is that the expansion of Chennai airport comes in the wake of the TN government acquiring lands for the second Greenfield airport. The upcoming second airport at Parandur would be handling 10 crores passengers per year and it would be set up at a cost of Rs 20000 crores.
