Chennai International Airport

Chennai International Airport Madras Airport சென்னை சர்வதேச விமான நிலையம்
IATA: MAA ICAO: VOMM Location of Chennai Airport in India
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Government of India
Operator	Airports Authority of India
Serves	Chennai Metropolitan Area
Location	Tirusulam, Chennai, India
Hub for	Blue Dart Aviation Jet Airways Jet Konnect
Elevation AMSL	52 ft / 16 m
Coordinates	12°58′56″N 80°9′49″E
Website	Chennai Airport
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 07/25 12,001 3,658 Asphalt 12/30 9,596 2,925 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (Apr '11 - Mar '12)
Passenger movements 13,125,298 Aircraft movements 120,127 Cargo tonnage 397,191
Source: AAI

The old terminal (1945) at Meenambakkam

Chennai International Airport (IATA: MAA, ICAO: VOMM) is the primary airport serving the southern Indian metropolis of Chennai. The airport is spread across the suburban areas of Meenambakkam, Pallavaram and Tirusulam with passenger entry at Tirusulam and cargo entry at Meenambakkam. The IATA code MAA for the airport is derived from the former name of Chennai, Madras. For the calendar year ending December 2012, it was the third busiest airport in India in terms of both international and overall passenger traffic. Along with Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport it handles more than half of the air traffic in South Asia.The domestic and the international terminals are named after former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, K. Kamaraj and C.N. Annadurai, respectively. It is the first airport in India to have international and domestic terminals adjacent to each other. The airport is the regional headquarters of the Airports Authority of India for the southern region of India comprising the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala and the union territories of Puducherry and Lakshadweep.

As of 2012, the airport handles 13.5 million passengers annually and about 325 aircraft movements a day. The airport is expected to reach saturation by 2016–17, necessitating the construction of a second international airport.

History

Giacomo D'Angelis

Aviation

The aviation history of the city began in 1910, when a city-based Corsican hotelier Giacomo D'Angelis built an aircraft and tested it. Inspired by Louis Blériot, a Frenchman who was the first to fly across the English Channel in July 1909, D'Angelis collaborated with Simpson's, a leading coach-builder in the city, to build a biplane. The biplane was built entirely from D'Angelis's own designs, fitted with a small horse-power engine. Samuel John Green, a motor engineer at Simpson's, helped with the manufacture and assembly of the biplane. On 10 March 1910, D'Angelis tested the aircraft in the suburb of Pallavaram, making it the first flight ever in Asia. While demonstrating it to the public during the ticketed show, he even took a person from the crowd on the aircraft as his passenger. Immediately, he also arranged a public viewing at the Island Grounds, charging entrance fees for the demonstration.

Giacomo D'Angelis and his biplane in 1910, the first flight ever in Asia

One more test flight was conducted at the Island Grounds in 1914, when J. W. Madley, a water works engineer, tested an aircraft assembled by him. He flew it over the Red Hills reservoir to inspect works and shot a couple of aerial photographs of the reservoir from the aircraft. This incident kindled an interest in flying among prominent residents of the city, resulting in the arrival of a set of aviators in 1911 to display the flying machines they had brought with them to India as a marketing initiative. The aviators included Baron de Caters and Jules Tyck. On 15 February 1911, Tyck flew in a Bleriot airplane in front of the public. The aircraft was wheeled out by eight men with Tyck seated inside the craft wearing an oilskin coat and goggles. The men held the plane till its engine revved up and then let go, and the craft darted forward about 20 yards before rising into the air. In the air, the craft made a straight flight only for about three-quarters of the length of the ground and descended due to poor weather. Tyck few again the next day, this time reaching a height of 2,400 feet, which was witnessed by the then Governor of Madras Sir Arthur Lawley. Two days later, on 18 February, another demonstration was given by Baron de Caters, when he flew his aircraft in public.

The history of civil aviation in India began in December 1912, with the opening of the first domestic air route between Karachi and Delhi by the Indian state Air services in collaboration with the Imperial Airways, United Kingdom. However, it was just an extension of London–Karachi flight of the Imperial Airways. In 1915, the first Indian airline, Tata Sons Ltd, started a regular airmail service between Karachi and Madras without any patronage from the government, marking the beginning of air transportation in the southern part of India.

In March 1930, a discussion initiated by pilot G. Vlasto led to the founding of Madras Flying Club, which became a pioneer in South India. The club had 71 founding members, of whom 14 were Indians. Flt. Lt. H. N. Hawker became the club's first flight instructor. The club's first Indian chief pilot instructor, Mohammed Ismail Khan, trained several pilots, some of whom were trained professionally or others simply for fun. Among those who trained for hobby included S. A. A. Annamalai Chettiar, who had a pilot licence from the United Kingdom, Auvadaiappan, and Solayappan. When the state council of Ceylon built an aerodrome at Ratnamala near Colombo in 1935, the first flight to land there was flown by chief flying instructor of the club Tyndale Biscoe. On 26 October 1936, Captain V. Sundaram, who got the first commercial pilot licence, flew a De Havilland Dove aircraft from Karachi to Madras.

On 15 October 1932, when J. R. D. Tata, founder of Tata Sons Ltd., flew a single-engined De Havilland Puss Moth carrying air mail (postal mail of Imperial Airways) from Karachi's Drigh Road Aerodrome to Bombay's Juhu Airstrip via Ahmedabad, the flight was continued to Madras via Bellary piloted by aviator Nevill Vintcent.

Airport

Madras (Chennai) had one of the first airports in India and was the final destination of Air India's first flight from Bombay (Mumbai) via Belgaum in 1954. The airport was built on land donated by the former governor of Madras Presidency, L. Sriramulu Naidu. Although the first aircraft "Puss Moth" landed in Chennai Airport in 1932, the usage was confined only to military operations during the World War II. In 1952, the Civil Aviation Department took over its operations followed by the IAAI in 1972.

An air cargo complex was commissioned on 1 February 1978 for processing of import, export, and transshipment cargo, in addition to unaccompanied luggage, which is the second gateway air cargo terminal in the country after the one at Kolkata airport. The first passenger terminal was built at the northeast side of the airfield, which lies in the suburb of Meenambakkam due to which it was referred to as Meenambakkam Airport. A new terminal complex was subsequently built at Tirusulam, further south near Pallavaram to which, passenger operations were shifted. The new domestic terminal was commissioned in 1985 and the international terminal was commissioned in 1989. The old terminal building is now used as a cargo terminal and is the base for the Indian courier company Blue Dart. On 23 September 1999, a centre for flowers, fruits and vegetables was commissioned at the cargo terminal. The new international departure terminal was commissioned in 2003.

In 2001, Chennai Airport became the first international airport in the country to receive ISO 9001-2000 certification. In 2008, the AAI started major modernisation of the airport.

Administration

Chennai airport is the regional headquarters of the Airports Authority of India for the southern region of India comprising the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala and the union territories of Puducherry and Lakshadweep. It functions from the ATS Complex within the airport and has 49 airports under its control, including 19 operational AAI airports, 5 operational private/joint venture airports, 5 non-operational airports, 12 military airports, and 8 disused airfields. These include 6 international airports, 15 domestic airports, and 3 customs airports.

Chennai airport is the centre of the southern flight information region (FIR), one of the four FIRs that the Indian air space is divided into. The regional executive director (RED) is responsible for the air traffic services over the Chennai FIR and airport management on ground at the airports in South India. The Chennai FIR includes terrestrial air space above the four southern states and two southern union territories and the oceanic air space of the southern part of the Bay of Bengal and the eastern part of the Arabian Sea. Coordination with the neighbouring national FIRs of Kolkata and Mumbai and with the neighbouring international FIRs of Sri Lanka, Kuala Lampur, and Yangon for air traffic control purposes are being made with telecommunication links (both voice and data).

The immigration services at the airport and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), which is the office of the field officers in charge of immigration and registration activities in the city located at Shastri Bhavan at Haddows Road, are handled by the Bureau of Immigration.

Layout and infrastructure

New Domestic Terminal

Spread over an area of 1,283 acres (519 ha), Chennai International Airport consists of three terminals: The old terminal at Meenambakkam is used for cargo, while the new passenger terminal complex at Tirusulam is used for passenger operations. The passenger terminal complex consists of the domestic and international terminals interconnected by a link building, which houses administrative offices and a restaurant. Although the complex is one continuous structure, it was built incrementally, with the Kamaraj and Anna terminals being added in 1988 to the pre-existing Meenambakkam terminal.

The first part to be built was the international terminal which had two aerobridges (jetways), followed by the domestic terminal with three aerobridges. After the completion of the domestic terminal, the old terminal at Meenambakkam was used exclusively for cargo. Recently the international terminal was extended further south by adding a new block which includes three aerobridges. At present, the new international block is used for departures while the older building is used for arrivals.

The international and the domestic terminals cover an area of 1.5 km² and 1.8 km², respectively. The airport is divided into two circles, with five zones each, for administrative conveniences. Around 550 acres of the airport premises fall within the St. Thomas Mount and Pallavaram Cantonment Board's limits. The rest of the area comes under the Meenambakkam town panchayat's jurisdiction.

New International Terminal

The Kamaraj (domestic) terminal has an area of 19,250 m² (207,200 sq ft) with 48 check-in counters and handles 4.74 million passengers a year. The Anna (International) terminal has an area of 42,870 m² (461,400 sq ft) with 45 check-in counters, 38 immigration counters, including 16 at the departure terminal and 22 at the arrival terminal, and 18 customs counter, including 2 at the departure terminal and 16 at the arrival terminal. There are four entry gates at the airport, two each at both the terminals. There are 5 x-ray baggage facilities at the domestic terminal, including 3 provided by the AAI and one each by Air India and Jet Airways. X-ray baggage facility at the international terminal include 2 provided by the AAI. The total area of retail space at the existing domestic and international terminals is 3,250 sq m, comprising 60 concessions including duty-free, retail shops, restaurants, snack bars and executive lounges. The Anna international terminal has 6 boarding gates on the first floor. The Kamraj domestic terminal has a total of 9 boarding gates, including 6 on the ground floor and 3 on the first floor.

The airport currently has 70 parking bays, one of which can accommodate the superjumbo Airbus A380. Parking bays at the domestic terminal include one in-contact bay for Airbus A300-sized aircraft, nine in-contact bays for Airbus A320/Boeing 737-sized aircraft, and 49 remote bays for A320/737-sized aircraft. Parking bays at the international terminal include seven in-contact bays for Boeing 747-sized aircraft, 13 remote bays for 747-sized aircraft, one remote bay for an A380 aircraft, and three cargo bays for 747-sized aircraft. Works on the 24 new night parking bays had been completed in the apron area. With the new parking bays, the Chennai airport would have 81 parking bays. Chennai airport is the first airport in India to have aerobridges at the domestic terminal.

Cargo complex

The Air Cargo Complex at the Chennai airport was established in 1978, when all regulatory and facilitating agencies were brought under one roof for faster processing/clearance of international cargo, to cater for air cargo movement in the southern region. At the cargo terminal, AAI functions as ground handling agency for airlines for handling or processing their cargo on ground and acts as custodian on behalf of customs import/export cargo under the customs act of 1962. Spread over an area of 19.5 acres, the complex uses cargo-handling equipments such as elevated transfer vehicle, forklifts, high-mast stackers, and power hydraulic pallet trucks for handling cargo. The covered area of the export wing of the complex is 20,595 sq m while that of the import wing is 20,090 sq m. The existing covered area of cargo terminal in occupation of AAI is 37,085 sq m. There are three ETV buildup/working stations and 18 manual buildup ETV loading positions at the complex.

The cargo complex consists of two divisions, namely, the export and the import facilities. The export facility covers an area of 16,366 sq m and the import facility covers 16,500 sq m. The complex has an exclusive cargo apron which can accommodate three wide-bodied aircraft with ULD parking area and hydrant-refueling facility at the bay. The Customs department has appointed AAI and AI as the custodian at the complex. The import cargo of all the airlines is solely handled by AAI. The export cargo, on the other hand, is handled by AAI in respect of airlines handled by it while those of the rest of the airlines are handled by AI.

Export area
Ground floor area	5,200 sq m
First floor area (office)	2,295 sq m
Truck dock position/area	14 trucks (865 sq m)
Examination area	770 sq m
Bonded area	2,270 sq m
Import area
Total area	20,090 sq m

The available capacity and cargo handled at the terminal are listed below:

Area	Annual capacity (Tonnes)	Annual tonnage (Tonnes)
Export General	265,000	160,000
Import	277,460	130,000
Total	542,460	290,000

The existing capacity of the air cargo complex is expected to meet the requirement till 2020. Phase III and IV of the new integrated cargo terminal with latest automated storage and retrieval system is under construction, enhancing the area from 35,920 sq m to 54,620 sq m.

The upcoming import cargo storage and processing facility would have a capacity to handle almost 800,000 tonnes of cargo annually from the existing 150,000 tonnes. The new complex will have an area of 58,000 sq m against the current area of 26,000 sq m. The conventional way of warehouse management will be replaced by automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) The ASRS would have over 8,000 storage bins and each bin would have a capacity to store 1.3 to 1.5 tonnes of cargo in it. Apart from ASRS, the upcoming facilities would also have multiple temperature-controlled cold storages for perishable cargo, with three chambers at 0 to 12°C covering a total area of 445 sq m. There would be three fully secured strong rooms for storage and processing of high value cargo, such as gems, jewellery, gold and silver, both in export and import together. The new facility would also have dedicated isolated storage locations for handling dangerous and hazardous cargo.

In 2009, an integrated cargo complex was planned in the cargo complex of the airport. The complex would be constructed, at a cost of ₹1,450 million, in 15 months. While the ground floor would measure 21,000 sq m, the first floor would be built on 12,100 sq m. The new building would be used exclusively for import activities. Once the civil works were completed, the ASRS would be installed. It would cost ₹750 million.

Air traffic control tower

Chennai is the home to India’s biggest air traffic control (ATC) centre. The ATC tower is located at the Air Traffic Services Complex. There are two radars in Chennai—the mono-pulse secondary surveillance radar at Porur and the Chennai Westing House (terminal) radar. Advance surface movement guidance and control system has been introduced in the ATC tower.

As a first step towards integrating the entire airspace in the country, the automation system at the ATC in Chennai Airport was commissioned on 1 October 2011. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has invested ₹420 million for the Chennai automation system, which runs on Auto Track 3+, a sophisticated air traffic control automation system supplied and installed by U.S.-based Raytheon. A new route radar at Porur has also been installed and the 13-year-old terminal radar at the airport will be replaced. With the automation system in place, all information regarding tower control, approach control, area control and oceanic control would be exchanged electronically in Chennai. It would ensure reliability, thereby enhancing safety of aircraft and passengers.

Chennai is among the four flight information centres in the country besides Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, and the Chennai ATC has Hyderabad, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore under its control. Besides the two radars in Chennai, radar systems in Mangalore, Bangalore, Bangalore HAL, Shamshabad (Hyderabad), Bellary and Thiruvananthapuram are included in the new system. With the advanced integrated radar technology, ATC in Chennai now has the entire South Indian region on its radar screens, mainly coordinating flight movements above 26,000 to 46,000 ft.

Following the Performance-Based Navigation system (PBN) and the air traffic control automation, in 2011, the AAI initiated a pilot project on a Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS), as part of implementing Gagan (Geo Augmented Navigation) in the country. There will be a set of 3-4 GPS satellites, one geo-synchronous satellite, GPS receivers at end of the runways, a ground station and a VHF data broadcast system. When the pilot project starts, Chennai airport will be the first airport in the country to have the facility.

Runways

Check-in Area

Chennai airport has two runways—the 3,658 m (12,001 ft) long primary runway No. 07/25 (east-northeast–west-southwest orientation) and the 2,925 m (9,596 ft) long secondary runway No. 12/30. Approach lights include CAT-1 category at runway 07 and CAT-1 type at runway 25 for 510 m. PAPI-type landing aids are available in all the runways. Routine maintenance works of the primary runway are carried out twice a week—between 2.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

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.

The secondary runway, which was initially 2,035-m long, was closed in 2009 to extend it over the Adyar river by means of a bridge over the watercourse at a cost of ₹4,300 million. Initially, 126.59 acres of land for second runway was handed over to Airports Authority of India (AAI). In March 2011, by acquiring 136 acres of land from the state government, AAI completed extension of the 2,035-m secondary runway by 1,400 m, whose commissioning, initially planned to be by November 2011, has been delayed as the approach lighting system has not been installed. While the cost of extending the runway was projected to be about ₹2,400 million, that of the bridge is almost ₹2,300 million. A bridge has been constructed across the Adyar river to extend the secondary runway 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. The bridge accommodates 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. When the Airports Authority of India (AAI) recommissions the secondary runway, Chennai airport will join the league of airports with a functional runway across a river, namely, the Atlanta, Brooklyn and Madeira Island airports.

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 AAI has made it clear that without the removal of obstructions like houses, water tanks and trees, it cannot open the full-portion of the secondary runway. Also, with metro rail works also expected to begin at the airport stretch, the full use of the secondary runway is not possible. It is planning to operate 2,400 m even after all the obstructions are removed and proper security arrangements made for the bridge over the river. About 2,085 m of the runway was earlier used for landing only smaller aircraft, like ATR types.

In February 2012, airport authorities announced that only about 2,160 m of the secondary runway would be operationalised as there will be 330 m permanent displacement at GST road side and 780 m displacement at the other end. This restricted length would be enough to operate Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft without load penalty. Bad planning by the airport authorities, which has resulted in the removal of the very-high-frequency omni range equipment (VOR) from its original location where a link way has been constructed between the main and the secondary runways, has been considered the reason behind the delay.

Employees

As of 2012, Chennai airport has less than 50 percent of the total sanctioned immigration, customs and security officers. The airport needs about 300 immigration officers. However, it suffers from an acute staff shortage and has only 70 immigration staff.

Traffic

As of 2011, the annual capacity of the domestic terminal is 6 million passengers, but more than 7 million use it. The airport saw a 9.4 percent increase in passenger movement—from 6.83 million to 7.48 million—between April and October 2011 over the corresponding period in the past year. Currently, the airport handles about 325 aircraft movements a day. During 2010-11, passenger traffic rose 14 percent to 12.05 million and the total number of passengers is expected to touch 13.1 million (a 9-percent increase) in 2012, including 8.6 million in the domestic and 4.5 million in the international terminals.

Chennai airport is the main gateway for the air cargo traffic from the southern region of India which caters to the requirement of Far-East regions, the Europe and the United States, and recently African destinations such as Ethiopia and Nigeria. Cargo handled at Chennai airport included electronic goods, engineering goods, and auto components apart from the traditional leather products and textiles. The airport handled 300,000 tonnes of international cargo and 93,000 tonnes of domestic cargo in 2010-11. This included 160,000 tonnes of export and 140,000 tonnes of import, with a growth of 20 percent. The revenue in 2010-11 was ₹6,440 million and it is expected to increase to ₹6,680 million in 2011-12.

As of 2012, there are 52 scheduled airline operators, including 33 international and 19 domestic operators, and 57 non-scheduled operators, including 23 international and 34 domestic operators, operating services from Chennai airport, the highest in the southern region. As of February 2012, 36 freighters operate out of Chennai airport.

Traffic Volume at Chennai Airport

Year	Passengers handled			Aircraft handled			Cargo volume (tonnes)	Mail (tonnes)
	Domestic	International	Total	Domestic	International	Total
1993-94	1,527,850	846,511	2,374,361	13,471	6,949	20,420	57,281	3,465
1994-95	1,732,449	991,118	2,723,567	18,100	7,563	25,663	61,524	3,622
1995-96	1,834,264	1,195,849	3,030,113	20,672	9,194	29,866	68,813	3,392
1996-97	1,826,449	1,543,055	3,369,504	22,135	9,984	32,119	68,271	3,149
1997-98	1,755,856	1,744,083	3,499,939	20,231	10,862	31,093	74,830	3,065
1998-99	1,788,006	1,736,031	3,524,037	20,653	11,170	31,823	74,141	3,009
1999-00	1,944,844	1,702,534	3,647,378	23,531	11,080	34,611	99,578	3,483
2000-01	2,231,932	1,833,957	4,065,889	25,293	12,063	37,356	105,958	3,110
2001-02	2,043,198	1,741,046	3,784,244	25,617	12,248	37,865	109,138	3,990
2002-03	2,213,409	1,947,937	4,161,346	29,863	14,490	44,353	136,660	3,054
2003-04	2,501,778	2,054,043	4,555,821	36,749	14,502	51,251	154,123	2,758
2004-05	3,233,256	2,394,886	5,628,142	43,122	18,111	61,233	185,870	2,986
2005-06	4,173,345	2,606,632	6,779,977	47,900	21,155	69,055	205,971	3,846
2006-07	6,078,196	2,895,930	8,974,126	76,212	23,553	99,765	238,166	3,269
2007-08	7,209,501	3,410,253	10,619,754	88,175	27,690	115,865	270,408	3,819
2008-09	6,179,282	3,663,908	9,843,190	85,458	30,453	115,911	272,368	4,001
2009-10	6,663,652	3,852,787	10,516,439	78,579	31,640	110,219	313,914	3,823
2010-11	7,803,843	4,245,836	12,049,679	78,567	32,211	110,778	388,833
2011-12	8,617,180	5,308,038	13,925,218	86,592	33,535	120,127	357,191

Tonnage of Cargo Handled at the Air Cargo Complex at Chennai Airport

Year	Export (tonnes)	% Change over previous year	Import (tonnes)	% Change over previous year	Total (tonnes)	% Change over previous year
1979-80	15,511		3,211		18,722
1980-81	11,104	28.41	2,700	15.91	13,804	26.27
1981-82	12,520	12.75	2,807	3.96	15,327	11.03
1982-83	10,145	18.97	2,645	5.77	12,790	16.55
1983-84	12,773	25.90	3,622	36.94	16,395	28.19
1984-85	14,721	15.25	5,095	40.67	19,816	20.87
1985-86	10,738	27.06	5,735	12.56	16,473	16.87
1986-87	16,972	58.06	5,448	5.00	22,420	36.10
1987-88	20,689	21.90	5,762	5.76	26,451	17.98
1988-89	18,833	8.97	6,223	8.00	25,056	5.27
1989-90	20,935	11.16	6,949	11.67	27,884	11.29
1990-91	19,737	5.72	7,934	14.17	27,671	0.76
1991-92	21,725	10.07	7,114	10.34	28,839	4.22
1992-93	29,899	37.62	7,831	10.08	37,730	30.83
1993-94	34,785	16.34	11,276	43.99	46,061	22.08
1994-95	33,903	2.54	15,123	34.12	49,026	6.44
1995-96	36,337	7.18	18,316	21.11	54,653	11.48
1996-97	39,721	9.31	17,681	3.47	57,402	5.03
1997-98	44,138	11.12	17,766	0.048	61,904	7.84
1998-99	38,928	11.80	19,780	11.34	58,708	5.16
1999-00	46,702	19.97	28,721	45.20	75,423	28.47
2000-01	50,765	8.70	31,263	8.85	82,028	8.76
2001-02	55,866	10.05	38,305	22.53	94,171	14.80
2002-03	63,265	13.24	43,571	13.75	106,836	13.45
2003-04	68,443	8.18	51,120	17.33	119,563	11.91
2004-05	82,285	20.22	64,158	25.50	146,443	22.48
2005-06	89,436	8.69	78,417	22.22	167,853	14.62
2006-07	99,297	11.03	95,898	22.29	195,195	16.29
2007-08	107,530	8.30	120,174	25.30	227,704	16.70
2008-09	105,663	1.74	113,899	5.22	219,562	3.58
2009-10	128,812	21.91	120,710	5.98	249,522	13.65
2010-11	159,725	24.00	135,772	12.48	295,497	18.43

Busiest International Routes from Chennai Airport (2010–2011)

Rank	Airport	Passengers	Freight (tonnes)
1	Colombo, Sri Lanka	794,760	9,973
2	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	749,703	32,911
3	Singapore	542,946	23,452
4	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	273,078	9,921
5	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	174,127	1,469
6	Frankfurt, Germany	170,058	24,028
7	Bangkok, Thailand	152,931	9,765
8	Muscat, Oman	152,015	841
9	Doha, Qatar	130,932	25,558
10	London (Heathrow), United Kingdom	107,238	5,987
11	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates	102,918	3,059
12	Hong Kong	96,400	45,193
13	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	94,583	11,679
14	Brussels, Belgium	94,238	5,812
15	Bahrain	83,008	587
16	Kuwait	75,924	2,437
17	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	41,122	1,608
18	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	38,742	315
19	New York, United States	38,610	900
20	Mauritius	12,515	420

Terminals, airlines and destinations

Modernisation and expansion of terminals

The airport was modernised and expanded in 2012, with 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 spread across 72,000 m² (780,000 sq ft) has 72 passenger check-in counters. However, the plan for the parallel runway has been dropped.

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 airport to various parts of the city. Tentatively, the project is programmed for completion in the financial year 2013-2014.

New passenger terminals

Baggage pickup area at the airport

The current development projects include construction of a new domestic terminal and expansion of the current international terminal. The design is a collaborative effort of team lead by Creative Group, namely, Frederic Schwartz Architects, Gensler, and New Delhi-based Creative Group. The Creative Group is the principal architect for the project providing comprehensive architecture and engineering consultancy for the design of the passengers terminal buildings, parking garage structures and access roadway access system. The proposed design, based on Gensler's Terminal 2015 concept, will be connected with the existing terminal design elements. It was earlier reported that the new terminal buildings will have a handling capacity of 10 million passengers and when integrated with existing terminals will provide for a handling capacity of 23 million passengers a year. The new terminal buildings are expected to have an area of about 1,40,000 m² with 104 check-in counters, 16 aerobridge and 60 immigration counters and the two runways would be interconnected by a network of taxiways. The terminal complex will have a flyover travelator connecting the domestic and international terminals for a distance of about 1 km. It will have an elevated road on the top and a tube below which will have two walkalators. The 600-m long walkalator belt will be installed at a cost of ₹260 million.

The design details of the runways are handled by the Airports Authority of India, while architecture firms are limited to designing buildings on the land side of the runway. The present proposal is parallel to the existing runway. The entire design as being organised around "two lush sustainable gardens" and the wing-like roofs helps collect rainwater and become part of the garden.

The design

The domestic terminal building currently measures 139,931 sq ft (13,000.0 m²) and handles 4.74 million passengers a year. The revamped design of the domestic terminal building will accommodate twice as many passengers in a three-story structure 984 ft long. The new design, based on the organisation of security and passenger circulation, centers around two lush, ecologically sustainable gardens each measuring nearly an acre and includes a parking garage with a green roof over 300 m long and rainwater capture systems collectively known as the "green gate" of the terminal. Expansive glass curtain walls will be incorporated to boost the feeling of airiness and spaciousness, as will skylights. The new terminal will have three levels. The departure area will be featured on the top level with the arrivals section on ground level. The arrivals section will form the base for airlines and other offices with the basement reserved for luggage scanners. The domestic terminal covers 67,700 sq m and will also have a provision of seven gates, two hardstand hold rooms and 52 check-in counters, besides eight counters for e-ticketing. The international terminal will cover 59,300 sq m with the provision of two gates with multiple hardstand hold rooms, 52 check-in counters, eight counters for e-ticketing, 18/10 immigration/Custom counters for handling passenger arrival and 18/4 immigration/Custom counters for outgoing passengers. Both the terminals will be equipped with an inline baggage handling system capable of Level 4 security screening system. This system consists of four departure conveyors of a total length of 3500 m and can handle 1,200 baggages per hour.

The new terminal buildings measure more than 140,000 m² (1,500,000 sq ft). The new terminals buildings are expected to cater to 14 million more passengers per annum, including 4 million per annum at the international terminals. With the existing terminals handling 9 million, the airport will be able to handle 23 million passengers per annum after the integration with 16 million in domestic and 7 million in the international terminal. After expansion, the aircraft movements in the airport is likely to increase at the rate of 5 to 7 percent. By 2020-21, the airport is expected to handle 500 movements a day.

The new terminals are expected to clock between 72 and 75 green points of the total 100 for integrated inhabited assessment. The AAI has divided the building for landside and airside operations. The spaces are connected with a central security checkpoint for departure and there is a glass bridge on each side of the building for arriving passengers. On the roadside, the new terminals are connected with an elevated corridor, which will have approach and exit ramps.

The power requirement at the expanded airport is around 110 kVa – more than three times the current needs. A new 11,000-KV sub-station has been built by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) at the airport to serve the terminals, for which the power has been sourced from Kadapperi near Tambaram. The retail space earmarked in the new international and domestic terminals is about 9,000 sq m, nearly thrice as much as the existing one.

Passenger airlines

Domestic flights operate from the Kamaraj Terminal, while the Anna Terminal is for international flights. The old terminal at Meenambakkam is used for Cargo Operations.

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Air Arabia	Sharjah	Anna
Air Asia	Kuala Lumpur	Anna
Air Austral	Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Saint-Denis de la Réunion	Anna
Air India	Ahmedabad, Colombo, Dubai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kuwait, Male, Muscat, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris-Charles_de_Gaulle Sharjah, Singapore	Anna
Air India	Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Madurai, Mumbai, Port Blair, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram,	Kamaraj
Air India Express	Colombo, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Tiruchirapalli	Anna
Air India Regional	Agatti, Bangalore	Kamaraj
Air Mauritius	Mauritius	Anna
British Airways	London-Heathrow	Anna
Cathay Pacific	Hong Kong	Anna
Emirates	Dubai	Anna
Etihad Airways	Abu Dhabi	Anna
GoAir	Mumbai, Pune	Kamaraj
Gulf Air	Bahrain	Anna
IndiGo	Dubai, Singapore	Anna
IndiGo	Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam	Kamaraj
Jet Airways	Colombo, Singapore,Brussels,SanFrancisco	Anna
Jet Airways	Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Port Blair, Thiruvananthapuram, Nagpur	Kamaraj
Jet Konnect	Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Mangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Raipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli, Visakhapatnam	Kamaraj
Kuwait Airways	Kuwait	Anna
Lufthansa	Frankfurt	Anna
Malaysia Airlines	Kuala Lumpur	Anna
Maldivian	Dhaka, Male	Anna
Oman Air	Muscat	Anna
Qatar Airways	Doha	Anna
Saudia	Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh	Anna
SilkAir	Singapore	Anna
Singapore Airlines	Singapore	Anna
SpiceJet	Colombo	Anna
SpiceJet	Ahmedabad, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hubli, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Madurai, Mangalore, Mumbai, Mysore, Port Blair, Pondichery, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli, Tuticorin, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam	Kamaraj
Sri Lankan Airlines	Colombo	Anna
Thai AirAsia	Bangkok-Don Mueng	Anna
Thai Airways International	Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi	Anna
Tigerair	Singapore	Anna

Cargo airlines

Airlines	Destinations
Blue Dart Aviation	Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai
British Airways World Cargo operated by Global Supply Systems	Hong Kong, London-Stansted
Cathay Pacific Cargo	Amsterdam, Colombo, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Manchester, Mumbai
China Cargo Airlines	Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Shanghai-Pudong
Deccan 360	Mumbai
DHL Aviation	Worldwide
Emirates Sky Cargo	Dubai, Hong Kong
Ethiopian Airlines	Addis Ababa, Hong Kong
Etihad Cargo	Abu Dhabi, Shanghai-Pudong
Korean Air Cargo	Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Chengdu, Seoul-Incheon
Lufthansa Cargo	Frankfurt, Sharjah
Martinair-KLM	Amsterdam, Dubai-Al Maktoum, Hong Kong
MASkargo	Colombo-Bandaranaike, Kuala Lumpur
Midex Airlines	Al Ain
Neptune Air	Kuala Lumpur
Qatar Airways Cargo	Doha
Singapore Airlines Cargo	Amsterdam, Atlanta, Brussels, Chicago-O'Hare, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Sharjah, Singapore
Southern Air	Hong Kong
SriLankan Cargo	Colombo, Hambantota
Thai Airways International	Amsterdam, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi
Transmile Air Services	Kuala Lumpur International Airport
Uni-Top Airlines	Wuhan

Chartered and other airlines

Chartered airlines operating at Chennai airport include TVS, TAJ, SUN, Swajas, India Cement, Indira Air, Reliance, Orient Flying School, Omega, Lakshmi Mills, Rainbow Air, and Air Austral. The Indian Air Force and Coast Guard also use the airport for their operations.

Fixed-base operators

Flight kitchen and caterers

TajSATS, a joint venture of the Indian Hotels Company and SATS (formerly known as Singapore Airport Terminal Services) for airline catering, provides in-flight catering at Chennai airport. It also manages airport lounges in Chennai and Mumbai airports. The airline lounges at Chennai airport include Maharaja Lounge at the international terminal and the Indian Airlines Lounge at the domestic terminal. The Taj Madras Flight Kitchen, a joint venture of the Indian Hotels, SATS and Malaysian Airlines started in 1994, is situated at GST Road, Pallavaram, and operates airport restaurants at the airport. The Taj Madras Flight Kitchen also has a multi-cuisine restaurant with a full-fledged bar named 'Flights of Fancy' at the airport serving snacks and refreshments.

MRO hangar facility

In 2008, Simplifly Deccan opened a US$2.9-million maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hangar at Chennai International Airport. The 70,000 sq ft facility can handle one A320 or two ATR aircraft and provides basic- and medium-level maintenance checks and protective storage for Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines aircraft and functions as a repair shop and assembly area. The hangar, which took nearly two years to build, has a total construction area of 3,200 sq m. The maintenance hall spans 46 m wide, 54 m deep and 17 m high. The hangar has space for one Airbus A320 and 2 ATR aircraft at one time. It is equipped with an engineering and training facility and an engineering maintenance conference room.

As of April 2013, Air India and Jet Airways have maintenance facilities at the airport.

Duty-free shops

Airport houses many duty-free shops and restaurants in its lobby. The authority is planning to open more shops in the premises. It is said that around 18,500 sq ft of space is available for shops.

Transport links

Layout of the Chennai Metro, Chennai Airport is the third airport after Delhi and Kolkata to be connected by a Metro Rail.

The airport is situated on the Grand Southern Trunk Road (National Highway 45) and is also served by Tirusulam railway station on the Suburban railway network. Airport prepaid taxis are available round the clock, with moderate fares fixed by the government. The proposed Metro Rail System will also connect the airport with other important places in Chennai. The concourse of the station will be linked to the passenger terminals by means of a connector tube connecting the metro station to the flyover at the terminals, so that passengers alighting from the train can go to the departure area of the airport terminals without coming out of the station building. With the construction of the metro rail station, the Tirusulam suburban train station will be integrated with the metro and the airport.

With the opening of the Chennai Metro rail station, Chennai airport will be the third in the country to be connected to a metro station.

A flyover at the entrance of the airport helps the traffic on GST road bypass the entrance. The Kathipara grade-separator at Guindy facilitates the traffic flowing from the city centre into the airport side.

Future expansion

There is a current plan of setting up of a new greenfield airport at Sriperumbudur and Tiruvallur taluks, apart from the expansion of the existing airport at Tirusulam. The greenfield airport would come up on 4,800 acres (1,900 ha) of land. About ₹200,000 million will be invested in a greenfield airport near Chennai, says Tamil Nadu's vision 2023 document.

The feasibility report of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which has suggested that a second airport for the city could come up on 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) at Sriperumbudur, was submitted to the state government. The four-runway second airport is proposed to be built on 4,823 acres at Sunguvarchathiram near Sriperumbudur, northwest of Chennai, at an estimated cost of ₹35,000 million in the first phase. To be built in two phases, the anticipated expenditure for phase I of the project is ₹40,000 million with a 87,000 sq m terminal along with a parking space for 750 vehicles. The second phase involves 150,000 sq m of terminal and enhancing parking space to accommodate 1,500 vehicles at an investment of ₹14,750 million. The greenfield airport will be able to handle 40 million passengers annually.

An integrated simulator will be installed at Chennai airport, which will be the first of its kind in the country, at a cost of ₹200 million. The equipment will be set up at the Air Traffic Services complex.

Incidents and accidents

• On 5 March 1999, an ex-UTA Boeing 747-2B3F (SCD) freighter (registration F-GPAN) carrying a revenue load of 66 tonnes of cargo as Air France flight 6745 from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Madras, via Karachi, Pakistan and Bangalore, crash-landed, caught fire and burned out. Madras ATC had cleared the aircraft for an ILS approach to the airport's runway 07. The crew abandoned the approach due to technical difficulties. The aircraft circled to attempt a second approach. At the end of the second approach, the aircraft's nose struck the runway while touching down because its nose gear was either not down or not locked. The plane skidded and came to rest 7,000 feet (2,100 m) down the 13,050 ft (3,980 m) runway. After it had come to a standstill, the crew noticed smoke on the flight deck and began to extinguish the flames. Soon after, flames erupted in the aircraft's front section. One crew member managed to escape from the flight deck via a rope ladder. The remaining four crew members were rescued by the airport fire service from the rear, before the flames engulfed the entire aircraft. The fire service was unable to extinguish the fire and the aircraft burned out.
• In August 1984, a bomb blast 1,200 meters from the airport killed 33 persons and injured 27 others. The entire concourse was razed down and had to be rebuilt.

Awards

The Chennai airport was chosen 'Airport of the Year' for 2012 for cargo handling. This is the third consecutive time (2010–12) the award was bagged by the airport.

Gallery

• 
  An Air Mauritius Boeing 767-300ER seen from the viewing gallery
• 
  Three 747s at Chennai Cargo Terminal. Also the New domestic terminal under construction is visible.
• 
  Jade Cargo 747-400F takes off from Chennai Airport
• 
  An Emirate 777-300 takes off from the international terminal.

See also

• Transport in Chennai

External links

• Chennai Airport Guide
• Chennai International Airport
• MAP for proposed Greenfield Airport & Consolidated Update About Chennai Airport
• New Chennai Airport Design-Schwartzarch
• Accident history for MAA at Aviation Safety Network