Site for second airport in Chennai to be finalised soon
The Hindu
A high-level delegation from the State to meet Civil Aviation Minister on June 17
A high-level delegation from Tamil Nadu, including Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu, will be heading to New Delhi this week to meet the Union Minister for Civil Aviation with regard to the second airport for the city. After a visit and study of four locations, the Airports Authority of India recently submitted a report to Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) suggesting Pannur and Parandur for a second airport.
“We are going to meet the Union Minister for Civil Aviation on June 17 to apprise him of the land acquisition for airports in Tamil Nadu. There will be discussion on land acquisition and other plans for existing airports across the State. There will be discussion about the planned new airport too,” Mr. Thennarasu said.
About the final location, he said a formal announcement would be made by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
Sources familiar with the development said: “It is between Pannur and Parandur. Both these places will be discussed in the meeting and we will bring the feedback to the Chief Minister to take the final call.”
An Obstacle Limitation Surface Survey (OLS) needs to be done for both sites as well. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that there were quite a few obstacles present in the sites which made it imperative to conduct an OLS.
The process of building a second airport, if there were no delays, was expected to take at least three years —starting from finalising a site, doing detailed project report, getting approvals from multiple authorities over a period of time and finally, choosing a firm to construct the facility.