Chennai International Airport MAA

Chennai International Airport (MAA) serves Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, and is the main gateway to South India. It is in Tirusulam, about 21 km southwest of the city centre. It is one of the five busiest airports in the country, with around 23 million passengers between April 2025 and March 2026. Air India treats it as a focus city and IndiGo as an operating base, and it is also the southern regional headquarters of the Airports Authority of India.

Terminals

The airport works as a complex of adjoining terminals. Terminal 1 and Terminal 4 handle domestic flights, and Terminal 2, opened in July 2023, handles international ones. The old T3 was demolished in 2023 to expand T2, and expansion works are under way, so some areas may be under construction. Check your ticket for your terminal: domestic IndiGo and Air India Express flights leave from the domestic block, and foreign airlines from T2.

Airlines and destinations

Domestically, IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express and other Indian carriers fly to the country’s main cities. Internationally, T2 hosts airlines such as Singapore Airlines and Emirates, with routes to the Gulf and Southeast Asia and, via connections, Europe. The airport is also a cargo hub for Blue Dart Aviation.

Services

There are duty-free shops, restaurants and several lounges, with around 9,000 m² devoted to executive lounges across the airport. It also has a maintenance hangar and a cargo complex.

Tips

For domestic flights, arrive about two hours before departure, and three for international ones. If you are changing between a domestic and an international flight, do not assume you can walk from one terminal to the other without checks: ask your airline and leave plenty of time. During the monsoon season (October to December), heavy rain can cause delays.