The Airports Authority of India is rebuilding Chennai airport in two phases for ₹2,467 crore. The first phase opened in 2023; the second, which replaces the old terminals, has run past its first target date. Here is what each phase adds, why it slipped and how busy the airport is now.
The numbers
Chennai airport can now handle 30 million passengers a year, up from 23 million, after the first phase of its new integrated terminal opened, the civil aviation ministry told the Lok Sabha on 31 July 2025. AAI is carrying out the expansion in two phases at a total cost of ₹2,467 crore. When both are done, the combined capacity of all terminals is meant to reach 35 million passengers a year.
The second phase is the harder one. It means taking down old terminal buildings while the airport keeps running, and the completion date the ministry gave Parliament in 2022 has already passed.
What Phase 1 delivered
The Prime Minister inaugurated the new integrated terminal building on 8 April 2023, according to the Prime Minister’s Office, which put its cost at ₹1,260 crore and its effect on capacity at 23 to 30 million passengers per annum (MPPA). The ministry’s 2025 answer says the terminal has been operational since 8 July 2023, three months after the ceremony.
In a Lok Sabha answer of 15 December 2022, the ministry set out what each phase would add at the gates. Phase 1 would bring the airport to 20 aerobridges and 33 remote boarding gates, where passengers are bussed to aircraft. Phase 2 would add four aerobridges, for 24 in all, and 17 more remote gates.
| Item | After Phase 1 | After Phase 2 | As stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity (million passengers a year) | 30 | 35 (all terminals) | Dec 2022 and Jul 2025 answers |
| Aerobridges | 20 | 24 | Dec 2022 answer |
| Remote boarding gates | 33 | +17 | Dec 2022 answer |
| Probable completion | 31 Dec 2022 (opened Apr 2023) | 31 Jul 2025 | Dec 2022 answer |
| Cost | ₹1,260 crore | ₹2,467 crore for both phases | PMO, Apr 2023; Jul 2025 answer |
Source: Ministry of Civil Aviation, Lok Sabha Unstarred Questions 1445 (15 December 2022) and 1870 (31 July 2025); Prime Minister’s Office release, 8 April 2023
Taking the ₹1,260 crore Phase 1 figure from the ₹2,467 crore total leaves about ₹1,207 crore for Phase 2, assuming both numbers are counted the same way; the ministry has not published a separate Phase 2 cost.
Phase 2: rebuilding while flying
The 2022 answer explains the sequence. Phase 2 could start only after Phase 1 was commissioned and the old international terminal, T3, was demolished, because the new building takes its place. The 2025 answer describes Phase 2 as development of Terminals 1 to 3. The airport’s own page still lists two passenger terminals by name, the Kamaraj domestic terminal and the Anna international terminal.
The 2022 answer gave 31 July 2025 as the probable completion date for Phase 2. The July 2025 answer, given that very month, does not offer a clear new date in the copy published by the ministry. For now there is no firm official completion date for Phase 2 in the public record.
Why the work slipped
The ministry listed four reasons for delays in its December 2022 answer: part of the site, especially the airside corridor, was handed over late because of operational limits; hard rock had to be excavated while flights continued; the COVID-19 pandemic; and heavy rain from three cyclones in the previous two years. Those reasons explain why Phase 1 opened in 2023 rather than at the end of 2022, and the same constraints apply to Phase 2.
How busy the airport is
AAI’s traffic report for April 2026 puts Chennai fourth in the country by domestic passengers. The airport handled 17,39,902 passengers that month: 4,50,935 international and 12,88,967 domestic. That was 10.5 per cent fewer than the 19,43,018 of April 2025. Traffic fell across the country in the same month, by 5.4 per cent for all airports, so Chennai’s drop was about twice the national one. AAI notes that the monthly report is compiled from data supplied by each airport and is subject to revision, so later figures for the month may differ slightly.
Fall in Chennai airport passengers in April 2026 against April 2025, compared with -5.4 per cent for all airports, in the AAI April 2026 report.
Domestic and international traffic
The split matters for the terminal plan, because Phase 2 rebuilds the side of the airport that handled international flights. In April 2026, international passengers made up about 26 per cent of Chennai’s traffic, 4,50,935 of 17,39,902. Their number fell 9.1 per cent from April 2025, slightly less than the 10.9 per cent fall in domestic passengers. Both declines came during a month when the country’s three busiest airports also handled fewer passengers: Delhi by 0.3 per cent, Mumbai by 11.4 per cent and Bengaluru by 2 per cent.
A single month is a poor guide to a year, but it gives a sense of scale. Multiplying April 2025’s 19.43 lakh passengers by 12 gives about 2.3 crore, or 23 million, which is roughly the airport’s old capacity. At that pace the airport was running well within its new 30 million ceiling, which suggests room for the Phase 2 demolition without an immediate capacity squeeze.
It’s often said the new terminal doubled Chennai airport’s capacity.
The record shows Phase 1 lifted capacity from 23 to 30 million passengers a year, about 30 per cent. Even with Phase 2, the target is 35 million, about 52 per cent above the old figure, according to the ministry’s answers.
What this means for you
- Check the terminal printed on your ticket and allow extra time: construction around the old buildings changes walkways and drop-off points.
- Remote gates mean a bus ride to the aircraft; Phase 2 adds more of these as well as four aerobridges.
- Monthly passenger numbers are published by AAI in its traffic news section, which is the best source for how busy the airport is.
- Any longer-term relief beyond 35 million passengers depends on the proposed second airport, which is a separate project.
What to watch
Pending
A revised official completion date for Phase 2; the date given in 2022, 31 July 2025, has passed.
Monthly
AAI traffic reports, to see whether the fall seen in April 2026 continues.
Checked against official sources on 23 October 2026. Figures and rules change; confirm on the linked official pages before relying on them.
Sources
- PM inaugurates New Integrated Terminal Building of Chennai Airport, Prime Minister’s Office, 8 April 2023
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1870, 31 July 2025, Ministry of Civil Aviation
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1445, 15 December 2022, Ministry of Civil Aviation (NITB at Chennai)
- Airport-wise passenger traffic, April 2026 (Annexure III), Airports Authority of India
- Chennai International Airport, Airports Authority of India
