TN plans international airport at Cheyyur in Chennai

The state government in Tamil Nadu has recently decided to build an international airport, second in the state, at Cheyyur on the East Coast Road (ECR). The site for the airport, which is located 100 km south of Chennai could handle international flights and on this score, the Kancheepuram district administration has started acquiring around 2,000 acres of land from the three villages of Cheyyur taluk and two villages in the neighboring Madurantakam taluk for the proposed second airport. As a matter of fact, the site is the third under consideration to decongest the city airport. Earlier, the government had looked at a 1,500-acre land parcel at Madurantakam and Uthiramerur as Cheyyur is considered basically for its proximity to two main highways — GST and ECR and that Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to move international departures and arrivals to the second airport.