Chennai is in dire need of a new airport
As was widely expected, the TVK-led Tamil Nadu government has shelved the Parandur airport project citing reasons such as displacement of people and environmental issues, including the project’s location on a water body. While this was one of Chief Minister Joseph Vijay’s campaign promises to the people of Parandur, the decision marks a set back to Chennai’s long-felt need for a second airport rivalling that of its neighbours in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.Trade and industry from the State is disheartened by the news and justifiably so because the existing airport is an apology and hardly one that reflects the vibrant industrial and services sectors of Tamil Nadu. Chennai’s search for a second airport began more than two decades ago and still continues. In this period, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad have all acquired swanky new airports with the last two drawing traffic away from Chennai in recent times. Industry representatives and associations are worried that foreign investors should not draw signals of an unstable policy environment from the abandonment of the Parandur project.Now that the decision has been made, the TN government needs to quickly act on multiple fronts to send out a signal to investors, trade and industry of its commitment to a second airport and to solving the capacity issue in the existing one. Even as it scouts for a new site, the government should look at ways of increasing terminal and runway capacity in the existing one. A new airport, even by the most optimistic estimates will take at least five years to implement. The possibility of adding a third runway at the existing airport has to be seriously examined even as the government has already said that it is looking at a new Terminal 5 at the current location. An internal study by the State government a few years ago highlighted options for a third runway which would run somewhat tangential to the bends of the Adyar river, northwest of the airport. The report noted that the additional 4,400m by 300m runway and associated infrastructure would necessitate acquiring about 273 hectares of land. With Terminal 5, an additional capacity of 20 million passengers annually can be added, but this can at best be a band-aid solution until a new airport is commissioned. There is no question that the government needs to begin work on a second airport right away. Globally, greenfield airport site selection has always risked disrupting agricultural communities or the environment. CM Vijay will have to navigate tricky territory here especially because displacement was the primary reason for shelving Parandur.Finally, privatising both the existing facility and the greenfield airport is imperative. Airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, which have been handed over to private operators stand out for their quality of services and passenger conveniences, quite in contrast to the Airports Authority of India-run Chennai airport. The vibrant industrial ecosystem of Chennai deserves better than this.Published on August 27, 2026
