CHENNAI: The international and domestic terminals of Chennai Airport are to be integrated by 2019 under the second phase of the airport’s modernisation, said Deepak Shastri, director, Chennai Airport, Airports Authority of India (AAI) while speaking to Express.
It would ensure hassle-free movement of passengers between Anna International and Kamaraj Domestic terminals. For example, a passenger who lands here from Madurai can easily walk through to catch an international flight.
The director said the AAI has called for global tenders for the integration of the two terminals.
“The two new terminals will be merged by revamping the old terminals,” said Shastri. This comes after the development in the first phase kept the new international terminal and the domestic terminal at two ends of the old terminals.
“Now there will be one single terminal, the one half being international and the other half domestic airport. This will provide easy access to international and domestic passengers,” he said.
This would increase the capacity of Chennai airport to 30 million passengers a year. The Phase I modernisation of the airport created additional capacity of 14 million passengers a year. Earlier, the capacity was 9 million passengers. After the first phase modernisation, the capacity increased to 23 million passengers a year. Shastri said a consultant will be appointed before the next financial year to integrate the terminals.
“Once the consultant is appointed, it will take three years. Probably by 2019, the second phase will be over,” said Shastri. This comes as AAI has taken steps to get environment clearance for Phase II airport modernisation. The expansion of Chennai airport was taken up with over Rs 2,000 crore.