Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Monday (August 24, 2026) announced his government’s decision to drop the proposed airport at Parandur and identify alternative sites for a new Chennai airport. Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly, he said a new terminal, Terminal 5, would be developed in the north-western area of Chennai airport in collaboration with the Airports Authority of India (AAI), along with an approach road and a flyover.

The main Opposition DMK sought to sepeak on the issue, but Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar said he would not allow a debate on an announcement made under Rule 110 of the Assembly. Former Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said he was not seeking to debate the issue but wanted to make a clarification. The DMK members walked out after the Speaker stood his ground.

The Chief Minister said he had consulted experts on the creation of a new airport and a few alternative sites had been identified without causing much damage to farmland and human settlements.

“The site will be finalised after studying the technical feasibility and consulting the departments concerned,” he said, recalling his visit to Parandur in 2025 to express solidarity with the protesting farmers and his earlier announcement at Vikravandi opposing the airport project.

He said Chennai airport was currently handling 30 million passengers a year and that the capacity would increase to 35 million once Terminal 3 was completed. “After the completion of Terminal 5, the passenger capacity will increase by another 55 million a year. It will improve the services and transport facilities until a new airport is completed,” he said.

The Chief Minister said he was fully aware of the role of airports in industrial development but maintained that an airport should not be built at Parandur as it would affect vast tracts of farmland and human settlements. “But the previous government tried to create a new airport at the cost of farmers, their lands and human settlements,” he said.