Chennai’s Second Airport In Parandur

The new airport at Parandur is set out to modernize our metro city further and give it a total makeover. Chennai Airport used to be one of the busiest airports in the country. However, the upcoming airport will steal the show as it's going to be much bigger than the existing airport. Plus it's going to be fitted with a lot of modern technology.

The upcoming Greenfield International Airport caters to the increasing air connectivity demands of passenger transportation and cargo movement. Besides the Chennai International Airport, Tamil Nadu has 4 more fully operational airports in Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Coimbatore, and Thoothukudi. Now are you wondering why we need another airport in Tamil Nadu? Here are the reasons why,

Chennai is a vibrant city that's constantly booming and it's expected to attract more air traffic in the coming years. In fact, it is predicted that Chennai is about to receive air traffic of 50 million by 2037, which is further going to multiply. Hence, the demand for a new airport is a must. Plus, the new airport is set out to attract modern import and export industries that will be impressed with the smooth cargo transportation and handling capacity. Now let's discover more about this all-new Parandur Airport:

History

The first spark of the new International airport was inaugurated in 1998 by the Minister of Civil Aviation. This all-new airport was proposed to further aid the existing International Airport in Meenambakkam due to the increasing air traffic. Then this idea was again picked up in 2006, and talks of a new airport in Sriperumbudur were being discussed. This was strongly put to an end by the ruling party at the time as they did not find this locality suitable for such a huge infrastructural development. In fact, for more than 15 years the government was unable to find the perfect location for the air base. However, in July 2022, Parandur was fixed as the next destination for the upcoming airport as the existing Meenambakkam airport is experiencing a major struggle to handle the increased air traffic flow.

Why Parandur

Located on the outskirts one can reach the Parandur Greenfield International Airport in about 2 hours from the city center. It is about 75 km from Chennai Central railway station and 60 km from Chennai Airport. From here passengers can easily travel by the upcoming Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway and Chennai-Mysore HSR. This is not all; the airport site is also close to the proposed Peripheral Ring Road and Sriperumbudur SEZ that's home to many MNCs and manufacturing companies. Overall a site area of 4,970 acres has been acquired for this development of which 2,605 acres are wetlands and 827 acres are dryland. So far the plan is to come up with 2 parallel runways that will cover an area of 200 acres.

The budget and expected completion

The proposed new Airport is going to handle 10 crore passengers annually and is set out to be fully operational by 2028. The budget for this massive infrastructural development is ₹40,000 crores. 51% of this project will be funded and owned by the central government while the rest by the state government. Plus it's expected to create more than 1.5 lakh jobs, which is one positive impact of this project.

Impact on real estate

Airports are playing an important role in changing real estate demand in modern times. It promotes comprehensive real estate development and urban change in its surrounding neighborhood. As these huge infrastructural projects like airports take off, their good influence spreads to surrounding communities. While airports are developed, roadways, highways, and metro lines are expanded to improve regional connection and accessibility.

Along with airports, a variety of auxiliary services emerge, which is a major factor for growth. It will cause an increased demand in certain sectors like tourist and hospitality, commercial complexes, and cafes. This unlocks a wide range of commercial and economic activity, attracts investments, boosts commercial and residential real estate, and draws unparalleled attention to the region.

Upcoming Metro

Just like above where we have discussed how a mass infrastructural project can further boost the connectivity of an area. Chennai is planning for a 43.63 km long metro line over a period of one year from Chennai's Poonamallee Bypass to the upcoming Parandur Airport. According to officials, there are going to be 19 stations on this upcoming metro line that will aid the passengers to easily access the new airport.