Why was Parandur airport scrapped? | Explained
What were the main objections to the Parandur site? How much land had been acquired? What approvals had the plan secured? Why does Chennai need another airport? What will Terminal 5 add to Chennai airport’s capacity? How soon can Chennai get a second airport?
The second airport project at Parandur, Chennai, which had been eagerly anticipated for four years, has finally been scrapped by the Tamil Nadu government. The decision was made public on August 24, 2026, during a session in the State Assembly. Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay announced that the government would abandon the Parandur airport project and search for an alternative location to build Chennai's second airport.
Despite this significant setback, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will proceed with constructing Terminal 5 in the northern region of the existing Chennai airport at Meenambakkam. Passengers will be able to access Terminal 5 through an elevated corridor. Meenambakkam currently handles 30 million passengers annually. The introduction of Terminal 3, which will handle both international and domestic flights, and Terminal 2 will increase the airport's capacity to 35 million passengers a year.
Should Terminal 5 also be completed, the airport's capacity will reach an impressive 55 million passengers per year.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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