With deadline 4 months away, Chennai airport T3 terminal lags at 50% completion
The construction of the T3 Terminal at Chennai airport is only about 50 per cent complete, with just four months left before the December 2026 deadline. Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) confirmed that while the contractor has sought an extension until March 2027, the authority has not agreed to the request.
A high-level inspection was conducted on Friday by a team from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the AAI. The team reviewed several ongoing projects at the airport. According to sources, a few members of the inspection team expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of work on the T3 Terminal.
However, AAI officials said that although the physical progress is around 50 per cent, nearly 80 per cent of the material mobilisation has been completed. This, they said, would enable the contractor to accelerate work and meet the December deadline.
“We have not accepted the contractor’s request to extend the deadline to March. The project cannot be delayed further, and we aim to finish it within four months,” an AAI official said.
The T3 Terminal is part of the ₹2,467-crore phase II project at Chennai airport, which includes an integrated terminal combining the T2 and T3 terminals to handle international flight operations. Work on the project began about seven years ago and was originally scheduled to be completed by 2022. While the T2 Terminal was launched in 2023, the T3 portion has faced repeated delays.
Sources indicate that the most challenging parts of the T3 construction have already been completed, making it feasible for the contractor to deploy additional workers and finish the remaining work. One of the major reasons for the delay, according to sources, is the escalation in prices of materials and labour since the contract was awarded seven years ago.
“The contractor had bid keeping in mind the prices at that time. With rising costs, they have found it difficult to sustain the pace,” a source said. Despite these challenges, AAI is pushing for timely completion, as the terminal is critical to decongesting the existing international passenger handling capacity at the airport.
The completion of the T3 Terminal is expected to significantly enhance the airport's infrastructure and improve passenger experience. Officials said that once operational, the integrated terminal will streamline international departures and arrivals under one roof.
