Wed Nov 27 19:09:54 UTC 2024: **Bengaluru Airport Overtakes Chennai as India’s Busiest for International Passengers**
**Chennai, November 28, 2024** – Chennai’s airport has lost its position as India’s third busiest airport for international passengers, falling behind Bengaluru, according to October data released by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Bengaluru saw 489,871 international passengers in October, a 24.3% increase year-on-year, while Chennai recorded 453,134, a 1.8% decrease.
This marks a significant shift in the aviation landscape, with Chennai’s decline attributed to several factors. A decade-long slump in domestic passenger growth, coupled with space constraints at the airport limiting expansion and the addition of aerobridges, has hampered its growth.
AAI officials cite limitations in land availability as a major hurdle. They also highlight the need for increased airline connectivity to more global destinations and a reduction in the Value Added Tax (VAT) on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), a matter requiring intervention from both the central and Tamil Nadu state governments. High ATF VAT increases operational costs for airlines, impacting Chennai’s attractiveness as a hub.
Critics suggest that a more aggressive promotional strategy, similar to that employed by private airports, could have prevented Chennai’s decline. Furthermore, delays in airport development projects are also cited as a contributing factor, with aircraft movements still not reaching pre-COVID levels. Chennai now ranks sixth overall in total passenger traffic, behind Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kolkata.
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