Tamil Nadu drops Parandur airport, seeks new site

Vijay added that the expansion of Meenambakkam's Terminal 5 would proceed in partnership with the Airports Authority of India.

J Krishnan of Chennai-based S Natesa Iyer Logistics LLP called the decision "a severe setback for the airport infrastructure improvement initiative of Tamil Nadu." The Parandur site had been embroiled in controversy from the start, he said, and the current decision appears to have been made without a viable time-bound alternative. "We look forward to an expedited solution to propel the state's economic goals firmly in the picture," he added.

Mohan Ranganathan, an aviation safety consultant, took a different view. "It is good that they have abandoned Parandur. It would have been a disaster for Chennai city during floods," he said. "They should choose sites that are safe not just from a real estate angle but also from an aviation safety angle."

The government expects to finalise the new location after completing the assessment of the shortlisted sites, Vijay said.

For Chennai, the delay in a second airport could constrain capacity growth at a time when passenger traffic is rising. The existing Chennai airport handled about 22 million passengers in the 2023-24 fiscal year, up from 19 million the previous year. Without a new facility, the strain on infrastructure is likely to increase, logistics experts said.

Several alternative locations are under review, though none have been named publicly. The government's criteria include minimising displacement and environmental damage, which could narrow the list of viable sites. A final decision may take months, given the assessment process, officials indicated.