Bengaluru airport continues to be ahead of Chennai airport in international passenger handling since October. In September, the Chennai airport was ahead of Bengaluru by nearly 5,000 passengers. However, Bengaluru overtook Chennai in October and this trend continued for the next two months, according to Airports Authority of India (AAI) data. January numbers are yet to be released.
AAI data also shows that in December 2024, Chennai had 3,397 international aircraft movements as against 3,291 in December 2023 – an increase by 106 flights. In comparison, Bengaluru had 3,200 in December 2024 as against 2,497 a year ago – an increase by 703 flights. This data gives an idea on the rapid growth of the Bengaluru airport, said a source.
The AAI-controlled Chennai is losing out to the private run Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru due to a lack of international connectivity. A lot of business travellers from Chennai are transiting via Bengaluru for better connectivity, said a source.
Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, Senior Director at CRISIL, says Bengaluru has overtaken Chennai in international passenger traffic due to a confluence of factors like better airport infrastructure, a higher number of wide-bodied aircraft operations and significantly more destinations and countries covered.
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In October 2024, Kempegowda International Airport handled 4,90,000 international passengers, a 24.3 per cent year-on-year increase, surpassing Chennai’s 4,50,000. While Chennai led from April to October 2024 (3.36 million vs Bengaluru’s 3.17 million), Bengaluru’s expanding global connectivity and superior aviation facilities have solidified its position as one of India’s top international hubs, with over 37 million passengers in FY 2023-24, he said.
Among the airports in important cities and metros, Chennai airport had the smallest parcel of land where further expansion was very limited. Chennai airport had only 1,300 acres of land. This was very small when compared to the land size of other airports like Delhi (5,100 acres), Hyderabad (5,500 acres) and Bengaluru (4,008 acres), Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu told newspersons recently.
Thus, the proposed greenfield airport at Parandur near Chennai is indispensable for economic, industrial and trade development as the present Chennai airport, which is significantly smaller in size, cannot handle the estimated eight crore passengers per year in the next decade, he said.
International passenger handling
| Month (in 2024) | Chennai | Bengaluru |
|---|---|---|
| December | 5,32,012 | 5,66,082 |
| November | 4,74,623 | 5,04,691 |
| October | 4,53,134 | 4,89,871 |
| September | 4,44,937 | 4,39,995 |
Source: Airports Authority of India
