Chennai International Airport - Modernisation and Expansion

Modernisation and Expansion

The Chennai Airport has been slated for modernisation and expansion. The works are to be carried out by the Airports Authority of India and include the construction of a new domestic terminal, the expansion and renovation of the existing international terminal, the renovation of the existing domestic terminal, the extension of the secondary runway and the creation of a parallel runway, taxiways, aprons, parking bays and cargo terminal. The new terminal will be spread across 72,000 m2 (780,000 sq ft) and would have 72 passenger check-in counters. However, the plan for the parallel runway has been dropped.

The expansion will involve the acquisition of land in nearby areas. The expansion of the existing airport would be taken up at Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam and Tharapakkam in Sriperumbudur taluk after a resolution to this effect was adopted by the government. The cabinet has handed over 1069.99 acres for the overall expansion. This includes 233.01 acres from Manapakkam, 394.91 acres from Kolapakkam, 360.84 acres from Kerukampakkam and 81.20 acres from Tharapakkam. The government would provide suitable compensation and rehabilitation to the 947 households in these areas. The rehabilitation of the households would be done in the first phase of the expansion itself.

The modernisation and restructuring is expected to cost around 2,350 crore, of which the cost of construction of the runway, taxiway and apron would be around 1,100 crore, while the cost of construction of the terminal building, cargo building, car park and face uplift would be 1,250 crore.

As part of the plan to expand the current airport, 126.59 acres of land for second runway was formally handed over to Airports Authority of India (AAI) to start with. As per the modernisation plan, the secondary runway will be built over the Adyar river by means of a bridge. The second runway will extend across Adyar river and will be extended by a length of 1,400 m to a total length of 3,445 m, including 835 m on the northern side of the river. A bridge will be built over the river to accommodate the runway and a taxiway, making Chennai Airport the only international airport in India to have a runway across a river. In Mumbai, only an end of the runway is over Mithi river. The secondary runway extension will cost around 430 crore and will be completed in 2010. With the second airport near Sriperumbudur under consideration, the project for a parallel runway has been put on hold and the total land required for the airport expansion reduced from 1069.99 acres to 800 acres.

The original plan to build a three-basement-level car parking for about 1,500 vehicles with about 8,000 sq m of commercial area on the open ground opposite the new domestic terminal building has been deferred temporarily. Instead, a surface-level parking to accommodate 400 vehicles has been planned at a cost of 44.2 million.

The proposed Chennai Metro Rail Project will connect the Chennai International Airport to various parts of the city. Tentatively, the project is programmed for completion in the financial year 2013-2014.

Chennai airport does not have rapid exit taxiways that help pilots to vacate a runway without slowing down the aircraft soon after landing. Planes such as the Airbus 380 and Boeing 747-800 will have to slow down completely to negotiate sharp turns on the taxiway. In 2011, AAI began work on upgrading the existing taxiways and parking bays at the airport to handle these jumbo planes.