Chennai: Tamil Nadu CM C. Joseph Vijay wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August, seeking a change in the operator of Chennai International Airport, currently run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), ThePrint has learnt.
Widely seen as a push toward privatisation, the move has drawn sharp opposition from the DMK, CPI, CPI(M), and AMMK after reports regarding the same surfaced Saturday.
In his letter, CM Vijay expressed dissatisfaction with aspects of the airport’s performance on passenger volume, aircraft movements, and cargo. He argued that a business-friendly state like Tamil Nadu needs better airport management to support investment and industry, and therefore sought an operator other than AAI.
Therefore, a request has been made by the Tamil Nadu government to the Centre to privatise the airport, sources confirmed to ThePrint.
The request comes after the TVK government dropped the proposed greenfield airport at Parandur and shifted focus to expanding the existing Meenambakkam facility, with alternative sites for a second airport under consideration.
The DMK has long opposed privatisation of Tamil Nadu’s major airports. In previous years, when the Centre listed Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Tiruchirappalli under monetisation plans, the previous DMK government resisted handing them over to private operators and sought revenue-sharing or equity arrangements reflecting the state’s land contributions.
However, government officials say passengers and industry stakeholders have periodically called for better facilities, citing delays in projects such as the new terminal and cab pick-up infrastructure.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) Tamil Nadu unit issued a strong statement on 19 September condemning the move. It said CM Vijay’s letter to the Prime Minister seeking a different operator for Chennai airport amounts to an attempt to privatise it, which CPI strongly opposes. The party noted that AAI has been earning profits citing a reported net profit of Rs 6,522 crore in 2025-26 and that privatisation is not the solution.
The Left parties stressed that Chennai airport is not an ordinary commercial facility but a public asset of national importance, crucial to Tamil Nadu’s industry, trade, tourism, and cargo movement. Any operational shortcomings should be fixed by improving passenger services, aircraft operations, cargo handling, and connectivity and not by privatisation, they added.
CPI(M) state secretary P. Shanmugam also condemned the letter written by CM Vijay. He said that, if the government’s attempts to hand over Chennai airport to a private entity are true, the government must immediately drop such a decision, calling it strongly condemnable. AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran also urged the government to immediately drop such a decision.
DMK leaders have linked the letter to the earlier scrapping of the Parandur project.
Former Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa wrote on X that the truth behind the cancellation of the state-owned Parandur airport project is now coming to light with reports of the Chief Minister’s letter seeking to hand over management of Chennai airport to a private operator. He questioned why the August letter was kept under wraps.
Rajaa and other DMK leaders had earlier criticised the Parandur drop as a setback to Tamil Nadu’s industrial growth and aviation infrastructure, arguing it sacrificed years of planning for a dual-runway greenfield Airport. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu had also publicly assured in early 2025 that Chennai airport would not be privatised and would remain under AAI management, with efforts focused on improving services in-house.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)