Majority of the construction work for Chennai airport’s new multilevel car parking lot is complete, Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said, adding that they are planning to open it by April. The parking lot will have the capacity to house nearly 2,000 cars.
Once operational, passengers can directly walk to the domestic or the international terminal through a transit tube facility that links the parking lot with the terminal. “Right now, the number of passengers travelling is growing quite well in the domestic sector. From nearly 5,000 passengers a day in May, it has spiked to about 20,000 a day now, with nearly 200 flights daily. The traffic will only go up in the coming months. Hence, a facility like this will be convenient for the passengers. By the time the lot is open, we are hoping that regular international flights, too, are operational,” an official said.
Work for the parking lot began early last year at an estimated cost of ₹250 crore and over an area of 4.25 acres with two towers on either side of the Airport Metro station. While the present parking space can cater to 1,200 cars, the new one can hold up to 2,000 cars. This will suffice till 2030, officials said.
Apart from the additional parking space, there will also be retail outlets and a multiplex. While one of the two towers will exclusively be for parking vehicles, the other will have parking space, retail outlets and the multiplex. “We have been contemplating reducing the space allotted for the retail outlets and increasing the parking lot area because of the impact of COVID-19. But it is not finalised yet. The multiplex and the retail outlets will come up a little later,” another official said.
