Opening Of Chennai Airport's New Integrated Terminal Postponed, Again

The opening of a portion of Chennai Airport's new integrated terminal has been postponed till the end of this year.

One section of the terminal, which will house the international operations, would be put into operation by October, according to Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials. Still, it won't be accessible to the public until November or later in December because the migration will take some time, according to officials.

In September 2018, AAI started construction on the new terminal. The 1,97,000 sq. m. facility will cost around 2,500 crores and will be able to accommodate 35 million people annually. It will house domestic and international operations.

It also includes a multi-level mechanized car park and integration of Metro rail.

"Even though most of the work is done, we expect to have everything completed by October. The migration from the old to the new terminal might take another two months," according to an official as per The Hindu report.

The first phase of the project (the inauguration of the new international terminal) has been delayed, despite the entire terminal being initially scheduled to be built in two parts and finished by 2022.

However, the project has repeatedly missed the deadline.

The international terminal was scheduled to open in June, but the date was later moved to August and is currently set for October.

However, despite the significant expenditure, the international arrival hall has not yet been inaugurated, and business is still conducted in the old terminal.