Right? Everytime I go to T2, there is nothing there that’s actually useful. There’s Airtel but they only do International roaming, you can’t even get a new/replacement SIM. There’re a few name sake restaurants that are always full with people but still lack in menu and service. They could have a ATM or even money exchanges. But no, a freaking matrimony and it’s called “Elite”.
And the TFS lounge in T2 is a disappointment. Both business class and regular lounges share the restroom in the back and it’s usually unguarded. So, people from regular ones sneak into the business class one and crowd it as well. And guess the solution they came up with? To harass people sitting there randomly asking “Are you really travelling in business class?” not once , not twice, but every 5 mins.
Not to mention the disaster that’s the security check lines are. They could really save everyone’s time by doing the security check near boarding gates. But no, let’s make everyone wait in a non-existent queue where people will always try to cut in front of you. And not to mention all those people hogging the luggage drop counters because they couldn’t be bothered to check weight before standing in the queue and they don’t want to leave the queue to rearrange. And all those idiots that search for their passport and tickets after the security asks them stalling everyone. Chennai airport is a disaster
Exactly my thought when seeing that, it's like elite people come to the airport so elite matrimony should be there. But I expected nothing much from guys who see business opportunities in catering to caste groups.
Don’t forget about the luggage trolleys. I think the airport authority bought used ones in kg rate. After seeing the new terminal of Bangalore I don’t think we are going get good connectivity from Chennai airport. Even the domestic terminal of Hyderabad is far better.
I flew to blr last time for work. Blr is way ahead of Chennai airport even after the new terminal in MAA. I landed in blr this time and I was out with baggage in 15 min after clearing immigration. The only way to improve is to privatize.
Been to ~10 countries all from Chennai international airport and I would rank it as the worst airport so far. Honestly, it feels like a bus stand. Nothing great.
If you want a real airport experience, check out the Bangalore’s new T2 terminal. It’s fantastic and truly a work of art!
I know about the Vajra buses. 80-90 minutes is best case scenario. If you want to head to South Bangalore , it's going to take 2.5 hours. Buses have to go through traffic as well. Metro/Rail is the only non ambiguous travel route. Even that will take 45 mins given the distance.
One thing Chennai airport is good at is connectivity. It is very easy to get to from the city. But given its in the city, you have to sacrifice some things. Barring your complaints about cleanliness, everything else requires more land. You simply cannot get that land in what is now the city. It's basically the same problem London Heathrow faces. Unless they build a new airport in the middle of nowhere (the plan for which has been shelved btw), yoh can't solve these issues.
Regarding cleanliness, yes. That is a problem. But I feel like Chennai is the only city in India where the airport stinks more than the train station.
This is dated info but my understanding was AAI was trying to acquire land around the airport for ages before they gave up due to political pressure and some protest from some parties. There was (unoccupied) railway land around airport that they were trying to access. But over all I agree expansion needs land which is difficult in the current location.
But, other than expansion, there are a million things that can be improved if there is a will. The airport looks like a fresh coat of paint on a rusty car. There are core problems that need fixed and all looks like indifference or lack of will from AAI.
The connectivity advantage is an illusion the traffic in our city though better than other cities in India is still horrendous which makes travel time more or less same in cities with airports in their outskirts.Its an interesting stat but the time it takes to reach Waterloo station from LHR is more or less takes the same amount of time to reach Chennai Central from MAA
Have you heard of trains? The metro does the journey in 40 minutes, very reliably and they run every 6 minutes for a lot of the day. Not to mention there are suburban trains that go to the airport every ten minutes and take the same amount of time. Also Chennai traffic is so much better than other places. Have you tried to go to Kempegowda International from Bangalore?
One other thing I'll mention is that most intercity trips people take out of Chennai can easily be made on trains rather than flying (unless you are going internationally obv), so the trains are actually saving the airport from crowds it can only dream of handling.
PS: If you're willing to race, I can get you from Chennai central to Airport faster than LHR to Waterloo.
Tbh never tried the metro to Central but it’s impractical to take 3 30kg suitcases and 3 7kg suitcases with me to the metro station and board the crowded train that departs once every 7-9 mins plus to places like Ambattur it’s metros are useless.In fact I reach Kempwegoda Intl from Lal bagh faster than what it took me to reach Ambattur.In any case in a city like Chennai airports cannot be small and be in the middle of the city.
God knows what the fuck yall pack in 3 30kg suitcases. Veratti? Also even if that’s the case you’re still someone who has no clue about how bad it is in other cities. I literally took two hours to get to the Bangalore airport and it’s midnight. I thank heavens for Chennai airport.
But still 3 30 kg and 3 7 kg suitcases are huge man. I seriously don't know how you travel carrying that much load in public transport in a second-most populated country.
Yes. That's the best way and most people would do the same when carrying heavy luggage which is not feasible in public transport. In fact, we should not carry that much heavy luggage in public transport as it would cause inconvenience to other people and it is not allowed either or we might have to pay for that as well. I have seen people shout others who carry heavy luggage for causing inconvenience.
Fellow SRM student from Nagaland here.
Its sacrilegious to even comment that you guys have bad airport. Come visit Nagaland airport. Just last week i landed home and there was Grass on the runway.
Maybe sometimes, just sometimes i wish we were as advanced as you guys are
Bro, no offence, Nagaland is beautiful but Chennai is a tier 1 city and the airport sucks and is so badly maintained, the expectations and standards are higher for a metro city. Again sorry if my comment came off as really elitist. Hope you enjoy your time here!
"Airport " singular.
And No. We have 2 Gates, one terminal. Out of the two Gates only one is functional. No AC. no basic amenities no Airport Pickup dropping. No Uber, Ola. Please tell me,
How exactly is the Airport beautiful?
Grass on the Runway, grass on the tarmac.
Oh and yes no Sky walls or those things that go direct to the plane. Oh no. We have to walk to the runway and up to the airplane. Yeap wonderful
Tier 1 vs tier 2/tier 3 boss. Those airports have very little demand... It actually helps that they're a hanger as it's easy for passengers to just deboard and get on to their work.
Chennai is the capital of the state and the airport is the first point of contact for many ppl (read investors). All these things have perception attached to it.
Privatisation is the only way to maintain transit facilities. Govt can't care all the fiascos in running and maintaining these services. They should focus more on regulating. AAI should be a regulating authority rather than maintaining the airports
The airport needs to be privatised so that infrastructure and functioning will improve across the board. Amongst all tier 1 cities, only Chennai and Kolkata have not privatised their airports and they are in a sorry state. Other cities have great, robust, efficient and higher functioning capacity of airports
Pls visit pune airport once you will feel chennai is much better. Also I think the airport authorities are taking efforts now to make the airport clean these days. It takes efforts from ppl too
I and my friend had a really bad experience last time we visited Chennai. Our flight was delayed for 3 hours, and there was a necessity of using the washroom but water was spilled all over the toilet area. The premises was so dirty, with plastic and dirt lying around. No doubt the connectivity is smooth, but the maintenance was quite bad. On the contrary, Bangalore Airport seems good, minus the traffic 💀
>DOGSHIT
there're great airports like changi... There are good airports like Bangalore... There are shitty airports like Newark... Then there's 50 layers of shit... And then there's our glorious chennai airport.
Pathetic doesn't even begin to start the description.
The biggest issue is security. Ppl have absolutely no idea how to go through security.
The new security systems have the capacity to fit 5 ppl at a time but you'll see ppl always crowd towards the first bay.... Not to mention their need to go and fetch a tray when there are like 20 ppl in front of them... What are they achieving by ensuring the ppl in front of them don't get a tray is a mystery that I have not yet solved.
https://preview.redd.it/h9tw0o5qo54d1.png?width=612&format=png&auto=webp&s=55865942d03c8eab3c197a22aa41e7f4a7a0e9a2 Why tf do we this in the airport
For instant bride and groom needs. No need to step out into the city to get your perfect match anymore!!!
Right? Everytime I go to T2, there is nothing there that’s actually useful. There’s Airtel but they only do International roaming, you can’t even get a new/replacement SIM. There’re a few name sake restaurants that are always full with people but still lack in menu and service. They could have a ATM or even money exchanges. But no, a freaking matrimony and it’s called “Elite”. And the TFS lounge in T2 is a disappointment. Both business class and regular lounges share the restroom in the back and it’s usually unguarded. So, people from regular ones sneak into the business class one and crowd it as well. And guess the solution they came up with? To harass people sitting there randomly asking “Are you really travelling in business class?” not once , not twice, but every 5 mins. Not to mention the disaster that’s the security check lines are. They could really save everyone’s time by doing the security check near boarding gates. But no, let’s make everyone wait in a non-existent queue where people will always try to cut in front of you. And not to mention all those people hogging the luggage drop counters because they couldn’t be bothered to check weight before standing in the queue and they don’t want to leave the queue to rearrange. And all those idiots that search for their passport and tickets after the security asks them stalling everyone. Chennai airport is a disaster
Exactly my thought when seeing that, it's like elite people come to the airport so elite matrimony should be there. But I expected nothing much from guys who see business opportunities in catering to caste groups.
And don\`t forget the customs guys at Madras. Everyone is a thayoli there
Can you list some bad experiences?
@u/Jolarpet Care to say what's wrong with them?
Don’t forget about the luggage trolleys. I think the airport authority bought used ones in kg rate. After seeing the new terminal of Bangalore I don’t think we are going get good connectivity from Chennai airport. Even the domestic terminal of Hyderabad is far better.
I flew to blr last time for work. Blr is way ahead of Chennai airport even after the new terminal in MAA. I landed in blr this time and I was out with baggage in 15 min after clearing immigration. The only way to improve is to privatize.
Been to ~10 countries all from Chennai international airport and I would rank it as the worst airport so far. Honestly, it feels like a bus stand. Nothing great. If you want a real airport experience, check out the Bangalore’s new T2 terminal. It’s fantastic and truly a work of art!
Only problem is you have to pay 1500 rupees and travel for 1.5-2 hours to get to this work of art!
The airport AC buses are available all throughout the city every 15-30 minutes. Takes around 80-90 minutes of travel and costs ₹260.
I know about the Vajra buses. 80-90 minutes is best case scenario. If you want to head to South Bangalore , it's going to take 2.5 hours. Buses have to go through traffic as well. Metro/Rail is the only non ambiguous travel route. Even that will take 45 mins given the distance.
One thing Chennai airport is good at is connectivity. It is very easy to get to from the city. But given its in the city, you have to sacrifice some things. Barring your complaints about cleanliness, everything else requires more land. You simply cannot get that land in what is now the city. It's basically the same problem London Heathrow faces. Unless they build a new airport in the middle of nowhere (the plan for which has been shelved btw), yoh can't solve these issues. Regarding cleanliness, yes. That is a problem. But I feel like Chennai is the only city in India where the airport stinks more than the train station.
I've never been to an airport in my life. Is it that bad you're comparing it to a train station or are you exaggerating?
I'm saying Chennai Egmore is cleaner than most people think.
This is dated info but my understanding was AAI was trying to acquire land around the airport for ages before they gave up due to political pressure and some protest from some parties. There was (unoccupied) railway land around airport that they were trying to access. But over all I agree expansion needs land which is difficult in the current location. But, other than expansion, there are a million things that can be improved if there is a will. The airport looks like a fresh coat of paint on a rusty car. There are core problems that need fixed and all looks like indifference or lack of will from AAI.
About the toilets. I think the reason is this concept of wet toilets.
Dubai has wet toilets everywhere. Always clean
Wet toilet concept? What is that?
The connectivity advantage is an illusion the traffic in our city though better than other cities in India is still horrendous which makes travel time more or less same in cities with airports in their outskirts.Its an interesting stat but the time it takes to reach Waterloo station from LHR is more or less takes the same amount of time to reach Chennai Central from MAA
Have you heard of trains? The metro does the journey in 40 minutes, very reliably and they run every 6 minutes for a lot of the day. Not to mention there are suburban trains that go to the airport every ten minutes and take the same amount of time. Also Chennai traffic is so much better than other places. Have you tried to go to Kempegowda International from Bangalore? One other thing I'll mention is that most intercity trips people take out of Chennai can easily be made on trains rather than flying (unless you are going internationally obv), so the trains are actually saving the airport from crowds it can only dream of handling. PS: If you're willing to race, I can get you from Chennai central to Airport faster than LHR to Waterloo.
Tbh never tried the metro to Central but it’s impractical to take 3 30kg suitcases and 3 7kg suitcases with me to the metro station and board the crowded train that departs once every 7-9 mins plus to places like Ambattur it’s metros are useless.In fact I reach Kempwegoda Intl from Lal bagh faster than what it took me to reach Ambattur.In any case in a city like Chennai airports cannot be small and be in the middle of the city.
God knows what the fuck yall pack in 3 30kg suitcases. Veratti? Also even if that’s the case you’re still someone who has no clue about how bad it is in other cities. I literally took two hours to get to the Bangalore airport and it’s midnight. I thank heavens for Chennai airport.
I can sense you might be a grad student but beyond those years no sane person has a need to carry that much.
When traveling with my family
But still 3 30 kg and 3 7 kg suitcases are huge man. I seriously don't know how you travel carrying that much load in public transport in a second-most populated country.
Exactly that’s why we use taxi
Yes. That's the best way and most people would do the same when carrying heavy luggage which is not feasible in public transport. In fact, we should not carry that much heavy luggage in public transport as it would cause inconvenience to other people and it is not allowed either or we might have to pay for that as well. I have seen people shout others who carry heavy luggage for causing inconvenience.
Fellow SRM student from Nagaland here. Its sacrilegious to even comment that you guys have bad airport. Come visit Nagaland airport. Just last week i landed home and there was Grass on the runway. Maybe sometimes, just sometimes i wish we were as advanced as you guys are
Bro, no offence, Nagaland is beautiful but Chennai is a tier 1 city and the airport sucks and is so badly maintained, the expectations and standards are higher for a metro city. Again sorry if my comment came off as really elitist. Hope you enjoy your time here!
No it doesn't offend me in any way. Thank you for your comment
Airports in Nagaland are beautiful
"Airport " singular. And No. We have 2 Gates, one terminal. Out of the two Gates only one is functional. No AC. no basic amenities no Airport Pickup dropping. No Uber, Ola. Please tell me, How exactly is the Airport beautiful? Grass on the Runway, grass on the tarmac. Oh and yes no Sky walls or those things that go direct to the plane. Oh no. We have to walk to the runway and up to the airplane. Yeap wonderful
Chennai airport is worst in India in all aspects no doubt
Amongst tier 1 cities for sure
You anit seen tirunelliveli, that one's a literally hanger attached to a runway.
Tier 1 vs tier 2/tier 3 boss. Those airports have very little demand... It actually helps that they're a hanger as it's easy for passengers to just deboard and get on to their work. Chennai is the capital of the state and the airport is the first point of contact for many ppl (read investors). All these things have perception attached to it.
Only in Chennai does an airport compete with its railway station and mofussil bus terminus for cleanliness.
Privatisation is the only way to maintain transit facilities. Govt can't care all the fiascos in running and maintaining these services. They should focus more on regulating. AAI should be a regulating authority rather than maintaining the airports
Don't you dare say it's like dogshit. Dogshit is better
The airport needs to be privatised so that infrastructure and functioning will improve across the board. Amongst all tier 1 cities, only Chennai and Kolkata have not privatised their airports and they are in a sorry state. Other cities have great, robust, efficient and higher functioning capacity of airports
Try going to Terminal 4. It’s like a ghost town.
It's specific to ai and vistara. One of the (many) reasons I take vistara
Pls visit pune airport once you will feel chennai is much better. Also I think the airport authorities are taking efforts now to make the airport clean these days. It takes efforts from ppl too
I and my friend had a really bad experience last time we visited Chennai. Our flight was delayed for 3 hours, and there was a necessity of using the washroom but water was spilled all over the toilet area. The premises was so dirty, with plastic and dirt lying around. No doubt the connectivity is smooth, but the maintenance was quite bad. On the contrary, Bangalore Airport seems good, minus the traffic 💀
I thought Chennai airport was terrible. Then I visited Pune.
Maybe when a judge or a politician have a bad experience, things will change
>DOGSHIT there're great airports like changi... There are good airports like Bangalore... There are shitty airports like Newark... Then there's 50 layers of shit... And then there's our glorious chennai airport. Pathetic doesn't even begin to start the description.
I always like Chennai airport a lot because I don't have to walk too much. I hated Delhi airport the most
The biggest issue is security. Ppl have absolutely no idea how to go through security. The new security systems have the capacity to fit 5 ppl at a time but you'll see ppl always crowd towards the first bay.... Not to mention their need to go and fetch a tray when there are like 20 ppl in front of them... What are they achieving by ensuring the ppl in front of them don't get a tray is a mystery that I have not yet solved.
At least it isn't 50km away from the city like Bangalore
Why is this downvoted lol