Chennai International Airport

Chennai International Airport (MAA) is the principal aviation gateway to Tamil Nadu and the fourth-busiest airport in India by passenger volume, after Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Serving a metropolitan region of more than 11 million and one of South Asia's largest automotive and IT manufacturing corridors, MAA handles in excess of 22 million passengers and 400,000 tonnes of cargo annually. The airport is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and functions as a key South-Indian hub for IndiGo, Air India and Vistara, as well as a major fifth-freedom stop for Gulf and Southeast Asian carriers. Situated at Meenambakkam and Tirusulam about 21 km (13 mi) southwest of Chennai city center, MAA occupies roughly 1,300 ha (3,200 acres) at an elevation of 52 ft (16 m). The airfield has two intersecting runways: the primary 07/25 measures 12,001 ft (3,658 m) and can accommodate the Airbus A380, while the secondary 12/30 is 6,708 ft (2,045 m). The current Terminal 2, inaugurated in 2023, more than doubled passenger capacity to around 30 million per year and integrates the older domestic Terminal 1 and international Terminal 4 into a single, fully glazed processor with dedicated e-gates, 100 check-in counters and 60 immigration positions. Thirty-six airlines link Chennai to 75 destinations across India, the Gulf, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Europe, including nonstop flights to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Dubai, Doha, London and Frankfurt. MAA is a strategic Indian Ocean node for transit traffic to Sri Lanka and the Maldives and is one of only a handful of Indian airports with direct metro-rail integration into the terminal building (2025).