Chennai International Airport
Chennai International Airport is located in Tirusulam in Chengalpattu district which serves the city of Chennai. The name of the Chennai Airport is Madras International Meenambakkam Airport. The Chennai airport is the fifth busiest airport by passenger flow, and is the fourth busiest airport by the amount of cargo it handles. It is the 3rd busiest airport by international traffic.
The first air service started in 1915. Then, it was commissioned in 1930. The airport is the south region headquarters for South India states. The airport had a total of 21 million passengers in the year 2023 to 2024, along with a total of 0.34 million tonnes of cargo. The Chennai airport has many connecting flights to all of the six continents of the world. It also has direct flights to 3 of them.
- The airport has 3 passenger terminals.
- Terminals 1 & 4 handle domestic traffic, and terminal 2 handles international operations.
- The new terminal 2 is now replacing the old terminal 3.
- A new satellite terminal is ongoing now.
- There is an air cargo place that operates out of the old terminal.
The airport passenger terminal is over 1,301 acres. There are 3 passenger terminals. Terminal 1 and Terminal 4 are allocated for domestic traffic, and Terminal 2 only is allocated for international traffic.
Terminals 1 and 4 are with 3 levels. It has the departure area on the top level, which has both approach and exit ramps. The arrival section is on the ground level.
- Terminal 1 - Terminal 1 is over a big area of 729,000 sq ft. It has 7 gates and 52 check-in counters. There are 8 counters for e-tickets. It can have up to 16 million passengers per annum.
- Terminal 4 - Terminal 4 is over 638,000 sq ft. It can have 7 million passengers per annum. Both terminals have an in-line baggage system with 4 conveyors of 3,500 meters in length.
- Terminal 2 - Terminal 2 construction is going on now to replace the other old Terminals 2 & 3. It will expand by 650,000 sq ft, and it will replace Terminal 3. The new terminal can hold up to 10 million passengers. It has 100 check-in counters & 11 automated retrieval systems. There are 6 self-bag drops & 6 baggage reclaim belts.
The Air Cargo area was started in 1978 over 19.60 acres. It has 2 divisions - export and import wings. It has an Automated Retrieval System for easy retrieval of cargo.
The airport has 90 parking bays. In that18 bays are linked to the passenger terminals. The main apron has 33 parking bays. Two aprons are between the 2 runways. A remote apron is to the east, which can have 8 narrow-body jets.
Chennai Airport was started in 1930. On 15th October 1932, J. R. D. Tata flew an aircraft that carried an airmail, which landed at Madras airport. In 1952, the Civil Aviation Department took care of the operations of this airport. The first passenger terminal of the Chennai airport was constructed in 1954.
An Air cargo area was started from Feb in 1978. In the year 1985, the operations were shifted to the new building at Tirusulam. A new terminal was later added in 1989.
Airports Authority of India owns the Chennai Airport. It serves as the region headquarters for the south zone of India. The Ministry of Home Affairs takes care of all the immigration services here. TANGEDC provides the power supply through an 11,000 kV substation.
The airport has two runways
- 3,661 m (12,011 ft) long primary runway
- 2,890 m (9,480 ft) long secondary runway
The two runways are with CAT-I Landing System with a good Approach Path Indicator. An upgraded ILS was installed for the runway in the year 2017. As the airport does not have a CAT-III landing system, disruptions in flight operations occur in poor weather.
The secondary runway expansion was done in March 2011. The bridge over the Adyar River housed the runway. It makes Chennai airport the first airport in India to have a big runway across a river.
A six-level car parking area is there to park 2,237 cars, and it is right in front of the airport.
There is a 250,000 sq ft big mall named “Aerohub” inside the airport. The mall has a cinema hall, and it also has a 59-key transit hotel.
A 70,000 sq ft repair hangar is there. It can handle 1 big or 2 small aircraft, and it also functions as a repair shop
TajSATS has catering services at the airport. It also takes care of airport lounges
Tamilnadu Fire & Rescue Services gives fire rescue services to the full airport.
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