As it has been confirmed that the second airport in the city would not come up at Sriperumbudur, Airports Authority of India is planning to add new facilities to the Chennai Airport. AAI is fast-tracking the enhancement of aircraft and passenger-handling capacities of Chennai airport and the state government is acquiring 100 acres of land for the work. This was confirmed in a meeting between officials of civil aviation ministry, AAI and CM E.Palaniswami last week.

“The state government has agreed to acquire the land which will come to around 100 acres. This will include land to build a parallel taxiway. This is crucial because we need space for the taxiway and parking bays,” AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra had told Times of India.

The enhancements planned for Chennai airport include a parallel taxiway for the main runway with parking bays, fuel bowsers and other facilities so that both the runways could be operated simultaneously. An integrated terminal will be built in the place of the old domestic terminal next year.

With the number of domestic flights on the rise, this will not be adequate. However, AAI is hopeful of boosting the passenger-handling capacity of the airport to cater to the needs of passengers until the second airport is up in another four to five years.

Featured Image Source: Arvind Krishna