Vijay scrapping Parandur a costly call? How critical is 2nd airport for Chennai?

Tamil Nadu CM C Joseph Vijay has scrapped Parandur as the site for Chennai's second airport and promised an alternative. DMK chief MK Stalin, whose government selected the site, has called the decision an 'irreversible setback'. But how urgently does Chennai need another airport? Will Vijay's decision prove costly?The Vijay government said it would identify an alternative site for Chennai's proposed second airport. (Image: AI-generated)With the Delhi-NCR and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) now operating their second airports, and the announcement of a second one at Kalyani near Kolkata, Chennai looked set to join the list of Indian urban centres with multiple airports. But Chennai's journey to joining the list is now back at the site-selection stage after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday scrapped the Parandur project, the proposed site for the city's second airport.It's important to note that the Vijay government has not cancelled the plan for Chennai's second airport. The TVK government has cancelled the site near Parandur (around 70 kilometres south-west of Chennai), which the previous DMK administration had finalised for the project. Vijay said the government would look for an alternative site for the proposed greenfield project.Reacting to the move, former Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, in a post on X, called the announcement "an irreversible setback for Tamil Nadu's growth.""Tamil Nadu's interests cannot be mortgaged for petty political considerations... Taken without foresight, planning or consultation, this decision by the TVK government is a devastating blow to the employment dreams of Tamil Nadu's youth," the DMK supremo said. By scrapping Parandur after years of planning, clearances and land acquisition, Vijay has effectively sent Chennai's second-airport project back to the drawing board. So, how costly is Vijay's decision to scrap Parandur? And how badly does Chennai need a second airport when decongestion of the existing Chennai International Airport (in the heart of the city in Meenambakkam) is only one part of the argument?The numbers suggest that the Chennai airport is not facing an immediate capacity crisis. The airport handled 23.02 million passengers in 2025-26, against its annual capacity of 30 million. The Centre also told Parliament last month that there were no pending requests from airlines for slots at Chennai airport. The airport currently has four terminals, with Terminal 3 under redevelopment. The ongoing Terminal 3 redevelopment is expected to increase the airport’s capacity to 35 million passengers by December 2026. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also proposed a fifth terminal at the airport, which would add capacity for another 20 million passengers and take the total to 55 million.Contrary to what MK Stalin has said, the numbers appear to give Chennai some breathing space. But it does not end the long-term need for a second airport near Chennai, especially as passenger and cargo demand rises across Tamil Nadu’s automobile and electronics manufacturing belt. The proposed Parandur site is around 70 km from central Chennai and about 55 km from Chennai International Airport. (Image: AI-generated/ Sushim Mukul/ India Today) HOW PARANDUR AIRPORT CAUGHT VIJAY'S EYE AND WHY HE SCRAPPED ITParandur, around 70 kilometres from Chennai, was selected in 2022 after the Airports Authority of India studied four possible locations. The Centre's Greenfield Airports steering committee recommended site clearance in July 2024. The Ministry of Civil Aviation then granted in-principle approval in April 2025.The airport was planned across 5,746 acres in 13 villages of Kancheepuram district. The Rs 29,144-crore project was to be developed in four phases and include an air-freight village, new road corridors and a metro connection.However, the project faced protests from farmers and villagers almost from the day it was announced. Ekanapuram village, which was staring at large-scale displacement, became the centre of the agitation. Right after launching the TVK party, Vijay had visited the village in 2025 and backed the protesters. His stand was against building the airport at Parandur, which he said would displace villages and affect thousands of acres of farmland, irrigation tanks, wetlands, water channels and other natural drainage systems."As I had already assured, the measures undertaken to establish a new airport at Parandur will be abandoned by this government," Vijay told the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday. A day after Vijay announced the government's decision to drop the Parandur project, members of the Parandur Greenfield Airport Opposition Joint Movement, met and thanked him for the move. (PTI Image) CHENNAI HAS TIME BUT NOT FOREVERNow that the Vijay government has scrapped the Parandur project and promised to find an alternative site, Chennai still has time, as its existing airport has not yet reached its capacity threshold. The Chennai International handled 23.02 million passengers in the last financial year. The capacity could rise to 55 million after the planned expansions (including the AAI-proposed Terminal 5) are done.Passenger growth also suggests that Chennai has breathing space. But it is not an indefinite one.Passenger traffic in the Chennai airport increased from 18.57 million in 2022-23 to 21.21 million in 2023-24 and 22.41 million in 2024-25, before growth slowed to 2.7% in 2025-26, when the airport handled 23.02 million passengers.At this latest rate, Chennai would reach the proposed 55-million capacity only around 2058-59. At 4.2% average annual growth recorded over the past two years, it would take until around 2046-47.One must note that these are trend-based projections, not official forecasts. Numbers could and do fluctuate. But they indicate that the decision to abandon Parandur does not create an immediate capacity crisis, provided the TVK government of CM Vijay completes the planned expansion on schedule and begins the search for an alternative airport site without delay. At the latest annual growth rate of 2.7%, Chennai airport would reach 55 million passengers around 2058-59. At the 4.2% average annual growth recorded over the past two years, it would reach 55 million around 2046-47. (Image: AI-generated/ Sushim Mukul/ India Today) Another important point to note here is that the annual capacity figures do not properly reflect peak-hour crowding, baggage handling delays, ground-handling issues or limitations in moving cargo.Cargo capacity is another consideration, particularly for a major industrial hub surrounded by automobile, electronics, heavy-engineering and ancillary MSME clusters that depend on efficient air-freight connectivity. Official ministry data shows, for now, Chennai airport is not facing a cargo-capacity crunch either.The assessment that Chennai airport has sufficient passenger and cargo capacity for at least another decade rests on the timely completion of the Terminal 3 redevelopment and the completion of the proposed fifth terminal. Industry experts, however, warn that the concern is the long lead time required to identify a site, secure clearances and build a new airport. That is why it is equally important for the TVK government to move quickly.The urgency, therefore, stems from the time required to build a new airport.EXISTING CHENNAI AIRPORT HAS ROOM, BUT THE CLOCK IS ALREADY TICKINGWhile India has no fixed airport-development timeline, a parliamentary committee in July 2023 found that four of 13 greenfield airports studied became operational only after 10 years and one after 20 years. Land acquisition, rehabilitation, clearances and litigation caused major delays in the studies project, according to PRS Legislative Research, an independent Delhi-based non-profit that tracks and analyses the functioning of Parliament.Chennai's search for a second airport dates back to 1999. Several proposed locations failed to advance the project. The latest round began in 2021, when the state asked AAI to assess four sites, before Parandur was selected in August 2022, reported The Indian Express.The long and uneven road to cities getting their second airports explains why the Vijay government must move quickly to an alternative site. This is what industry bodies have also underlined. The AAI has proposed Terminal 5 in the V-shaped space between Chennai airport's two runways. (Image: Google Maps/ Sushim Mukul/ India Today) The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India's (CREDAI) Chennai chapter called the cancellation a "setback that further delays Chennai's quest for a world-class airport", warning that the city risks losing investment, industrial relocation and talent to competing hubs with better aviation infrastructure. It urged the TVK government to fast-track an alternative site and cautioned that expanding Meenambakkam must remain a complement to, "and not a substitute for", a time-bound second-airport plan, reported SMEStreet, a Faridabad-based media platform focused on MSMEs and entrepreneurship.P Ravichandran of Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) Southern Region said that Chennai would need a second airport within five to 10 years, even as he acknowledged that the existing facility could meet current demand if its efficiency was improved, reported Industrial Economist, a Chennai-based business and economics magazine.The proposed airport at Parandur, designed to eventually handle 100 million passengers annually, was conceived as long-term infrastructure rather than an immediate remedy for congestion. Its importance also extended beyond passenger traffic. Chennai is at the centre of an industrial corridor of automobile, electronics, heavy-engineering and ancillary MSME units that require faster, more reliable air-cargo connectivity.Starting afresh might take years. An alternative site must undergo feasibility tests, land acquisition, environmental clearances and clearances from the AAI before construction can begin. It would also require financing and road, rail and Metro connectivity. The question, therefore, is whether the Vijay government can deliver an alternative airport before Chennai runs out of time.- EndsPublished By: Sushim MukulPublished On: Aug 26, 2026 08:00 IST