Tamil Nadu scraps plans for greenfield airport in Parandur, risks falling a decade behind rival aviation hubs

Tamil Nadu, a $400 billion-plus economy with more than 10% annual growth, lacks an airport that matches its economic scale. Chennai’s Meenambakkam airport handled 23 million passengers in FY26, well below Bengaluru and Hyderabad, while the state’s other airports also lack the capacity to meet growing demand.