The case for equitable development in Tamil Nadu should apply to airport too: Poovulagin Nanbargal
The debate over Chennai’s proposed second airport at Parandur has once again entered a politically sensitive phase. The land acquisition process for the project, which
The debate over Chennai’s proposed second airport at Parandur has once again entered a politically sensitive phase. The land acquisition process for the project, which continued under the previous DMK government until a few months before the election announcement, now appears to have slowed down or halted after the new TVK-led government took charge. Although there has been no official announcement, the absence of fresh notifications related to land acquisition suggests that the administration is actively reconsidering or reviewing the project. Against this backdrop, several voices have emerged in support of the Parandur airport. Construction firms, logistics companies, real estate developers, and industry associations have openly issued statements and held meetings backing the project. Their argument is largely built around one comparison: Chennai airport versus Bengaluru airport. This comparison is not new. It was first strongly pushed by the government when the Parandur airport announcement was made in 2022. A statement issued by the Tamil Nadu Industries Department on August 20, 2022 said that Chennai’s Meenambakkam airport, which had held the third place in India’s air passenger traffic in 2008, had fallen to the fifth place. The same statement noted that Bengaluru, which was fifth in 2008, had grown faster after building its new airport. It further claimed that passenger traffic at Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports had grown by 14% and 12% respectively, while Chennai’s growth was only 9%. At first glance, this argument may sound convincing. According to Airport Authority of India traffic data, Bengaluru airport handled 4.38 crore passengers in 2025, while Chennai airport handled 2.32 crore passengers. Chennai’s passenger traffic is only about 52.9% of Bengaluru’s passenger traffic. But this comparison ignores a crucial fact: Tamil Nadu is not Chennai alone.
Unlike Karnataka, Tamil Nadu has a much more distributed aviation network. Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Madurai, and Tuticorin together form a wider aviation ecosystem serving different regions of the State. When passenger traffic across all Tamil Nadu airports is combined, the total reaches 3.05 crore passengers in 2025, or 69.7% of Bengaluru airport’s traffic. Tamil Nadu airport data (as of 2025) Passenger traffic across all Tamil Nadu airports combined: 3.05 crore passengers Chennai’s share in Tamil Nadu’s total air passenger traffic: 76% Fastest-growing airport in the region: Tiruchirapalli airport Tamil Nadu’s total airport passenger traffic: 305.33 lakh The structure of the two States’ aviation systems is very different. In 2025, Chennai airport accounted for 76% of Tamil Nadu’s total air passenger traffic, while the remaining 24% came from airports outside the capital. By contrast, Bengaluru airport accounted for around 94% of Karnataka’s total air passenger traffic. Only about 6% of Karnataka’s passengers used other airports such as Mangaluru, Hubbali, and Mysuru. Bengaluru therefore functions as Karnataka’s overwhelmingly dominant aviation hub, whereas Chennai is only one part of a broader State-wide aviation network. A fair comparison would be Bengaluru versus all Tamil Nadu airports combined, or Karnataka’s total aviation traffic versus Tamil Nadu’s total aviation traffic. The growth pattern from 2022 to 2025 reinforces this point. Tiruchirapalli airport grew by 68.5%, making it the fastest-growing airport in the region and even surpassing Bengaluru’s 59.3% growth. Coimbatore airport grew by 49.2%, while Tuticorin grew by 48.7%. Overall, Tamil Nadu’s total airport passenger traffic grew from 213.54 lakh in 2022 to 305.33 lakh in 2025, an increase of 43%. Karnataka’s aviation growth, by comparison, remains heavily Bengaluru-centric. Mangaluru airport grew by 48.4%, but Karnataka’s other airports remain much smaller.
The BriefWire