Land Acquisition Begins For Chennai Airport Expansion With Office Planned In Tambaram

The state government has initiated preliminary work for the expansion of Chennai airport by starting arrangements for land acquisition, with plans to establish a dedicated project office in Tambaram or Pallavaram.

The project blueprint focuses on developing a new Terminal 5 located in the north-western area of Chennai airport. The new terminal will be constructed alongside supporting infrastructure designed to increase both passenger capacity and connectivity.

In addition to the terminal building, the proposed expansion features key transit infrastructure, including an approach road and a flyover. These vehicular connections are being planned alongside the new terminal to support access and traffic flow to and from the airport.

To manage the process, the government has appointed a Special District Revenue Officer. The official has been tasked with overseeing the land acquisition procedures and coordinating preliminary work tied to the expansion scheme.

A separate administrative office is likely to be set up in Tambaram or Pallavaram to handle the land acquisition on the ground. The local office will also supervise and monitor general activities related to the airport expansion.

The launch of this project follows earlier efforts to address capacity demands. The first major attempt to develop an alternative airport for Chennai began after 2006, when Sriperumbudur, situated around 50 kilometres from Chennai, was surveyed as a possible site.

Although Sriperumbudur was considered again in 2011 for a second airport, the proposal failed to make significant progress. That stalled effort left the city's airport expansion requirements unresolved until the present expansion and land acquisition steps were undertaken.