P Wilson, a Rajya Sabha member from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), met with Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu on Wednesday, in New Delhi. Wilson requested the minister’s intervention to expedite the pending site clearance for the proposed new greenfield airport in Parandur, Kancheepuram district, Chennai.
In a letter to the central minister, Wilson emphasized that the Tamil Nadu government is committed to establishing the new airport on a 4,970-acre site in Parandur. The decision to establish the greenfield airport was made in 2022, and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) submitted the site clearance application to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on August 19, 2022.
According to Wilson, the proposed airport is designed to handle up to 100 million passengers annually, playing a crucial role in the economic development of Chennai and Tamil Nadu. He stated that if the site clearance is granted, Phase I of the project, with an annual capacity of 20 million passengers, could be commissioned by January 2029.
Immediate need for Greenfield airport
He highlighted that the existing Chennai International Airport at Meenambakkam is operating near its capacity limits and lacks modern infrastructure, making it difficult to accommodate the increasing passenger and cargo traffic. He stressed the urgency of developing the new airport, noting that the current airport cannot handle large planes with more than 400 passengers, double-decker planes, or long-haul, wide-body international flights due to inadequate infrastructure.
The parliamentarian pointed out that Chennai Airport is not classified as a code F airport, preventing it from landing A380 aircraft, unlike neighbouring airports in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The lack of sufficient aerobridges also means that large planes cannot dock properly, leading to inefficiencies with shuttle buses transporting passengers.
Wilson argued that the current limitations force international operators to choose alternative airports, resulting in decreased flight frequencies to various foreign destinations despite growing demand.
He also claimed that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had replaced Chennai with Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports as Points of Collateral (POC) for several countries, making it unlikely that Chennai will receive flights to these countries soon.
He warned that Chennai Airport is losing aerospace-related business to neighbouring states, which is detrimental to Tamil Nadu’s economic growth, future employment, and investment opportunities.
Wilson noted that the necessary clarifications and studies for the Parandur project have been submitted. However, the site clearance has been pending for over 500 days before the “steering committee” under the Green Field Airport Policy. He reiterated the need for an expedited clearance process, asserting that the Parandur airport meets all the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s requirements and guidelines.
(With ANI inputs)