Chennai International Airport
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| Chennai International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| IATA: MAA - ICAO: VOMM | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | AAI | ||
| Serves | Chennai | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 32 ft (10 m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 07/25 | 12,000 | 3,658 | Asphalt |
| 12/30 | 6,668 | 2,033 | Asphalt/Concrete |
Chennai International Airport (IATA: MAA, ICAO: VOMM) is located in Meenambakkam, 7 km south of Chennai, India. It has the IATA Airport Code MAA and it is the third most important international gateway into the country after Mumbai and Delhi, and the main air hub for south India, handling just under 10 million passengers in 2005. It is also an important cargo terminus for the country second only to Mumbai. Chennai is also a hub airport for Jet Airways, Indian (formerly Indian Airlines), Air Deccan, Air Sahara and internationally, for Air India.
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[edit] History
Chennai had one of the first airports in India, and was the final destination of Air India's first flight from Bombay via Belgaum in 1954.
The first passenger terminal was built at the northeast side of the airfield, which lies in the suburb of Meenambakkam due to which it was referred to as Meenambakkam Airport. A new terminal complex was subsequently built further south near Pallavaram to which passenger operations were shifted. The old terminal building is now used as a cargo terminal and is the base for the Indian courier company Blue Dart.
[edit] Structure
Chennai International Airport consists of three terminals: The old terminal at Meenambakkam is used for cargo, while the new passenger terminal complex near pallavaram is used for passenger operations. The passenger terminal complex consists of the domestic and international terminals interconnected by a link building, which houses administrative offices and a restaurant. Although the complex is one continuous structure, it was built at different periods.
The first part to be built was the International terminal which had two aerobridges, followed by the domestic terminal with three aerobridges. After the completion of the domestic terminal, the old terminal at Meenambakkam was used exclusively for cargo. Recently the International terminal was extended further south by adding a new block which includes three aerobridges. At present, the new international block is used for departures while the older building is used for arrivals.
The airport has the honour of being the first ISO 9001:2000 certified airport in the country[1], which it received in 2001.
[edit] Transport Links
The airport is situated on the busy Chennai - Trichy National Highway [NH 45] and is also served by the airport station (Tirusulam) on the Suburban railway network.
[edit] Terminals
Domestic flights in Chennai International Airport are handled at the Kamaraj Domestic Terminal (KDT), while the Anna International Terminal (AIT) is for international flights. The old terminal at Meenambakkam is used for cargo operations.
[edit] Kamaraj Terminal (Domestic)
- Air Deccan (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kochi, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Madurai, Mumbai, Port Blair, Pune,Rajamundry, Trichy, Trivandrum, Tuticorin, Vijaywada, Vizag)
- Alliance Air (Bangalore, Bhubhaneshwar, Delhi, Kolkata, Raipur, Vizag)
- Air Sahara (Bangalore, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai)
- Go Air (Delhi, Mumbai, Pune)
- Indian (Calicut, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Madurai, Mumbai, Port Blair, Trichy, Trivandrum, Bangalore)
- IndiGo Airlines (Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkatha, Mumbai, Bangalore)
- Jet Airways (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Kochi, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Madurai, Port Blair, Pune, Trivandrum)
- Kingfisher Airlines (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kochi, Mangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Vizag, Hyderabad)
- Paramount Airways (Bangalore, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Madurai, Thiruvananthapuram)
- SpiceJet (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur)
- Jagson Airlines (Pondicherry)
[edit] Anna Terminal (International)
- Air Arabia (Sharjah)
- Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
- Air India (Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, New York-JFK, Singapore, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, London-Heathrow, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bangalore)
- Air India Express (Singapore, Kuala lumpur, Dubai, Mumbai)
- Air Mauritius (Mauritius)
- Air Sahara (Colombo)
- British Airways (London-Heathrow)
- Emirates (Dubai)
- Gulf Air (Bahrain, Muscat)
- Indian (Al-Fujairah, Bangkok, Colombo, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Muscat, Ras-al-Khaimah, Sharjah, Singapore)
- Jet Airways (Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore)
- Kuwait Airways (Kuwait)
- Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
- Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
- Oman Air (Muscat)
- Saudi Arabian Airlines (Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh)
- Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
- SriLankan Airlines (Colombo)
- Thai Airways International (Bangkok, Dubai)
[edit] Cargo Terminal
- Air India Cargo
- Alitalia
- Atlas Air
- Blue Dart Aviation
- Cargolux
- Cathay Pacific Airways (Hong Kong)
- Emirates SkyCargo
- Etihad Crystal Cargo
- Korean Air
- Lufthansa Cargo
- Polar Air Cargo
- Singapore Airlines Cargo
[edit] Destinations
Chennai International Airport, being the third busiest in the country, serves over 40 destinations across 4 continents. It serves the maximum number of destinations after Indira Gandhi International Airport and Mumbai Airport.
- South Asia - Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Madurai, Mumbai, Port Blair, Pune, Rajamundry, Trichy, Trivandrum, Tuticorin, Vijaywada, Vizag, Bhubhaneshwar, Raipur, Goa, Jaipur, Mangalore, Pondicherry, Colombo
- Middle East - Sharjah, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al-Fujairah, Muscat, Bahrain, Ras-al-Khaimah, Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh
- Africa - Port Louis (Mauritius)
- Europe - Paris-CDG, Frankfurt, London-Heathrow
- South East Asia - Singapore-Changi, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok
- North America - New York-JFK, Los Angeles
