Chennai Airport review by Arun Koneri

2 July 2008   Customer Rating :

I use Chennai airport as the entry point to India every year. Over the past four years I have seen the airport improve. What used to be a cramped escalator down to the immigration have been transformed to a more spacious immigration area (the number of desks still are less than adequate during peak hours with multiple arrivals, but an improvement). Outdated luggage belts with bags falling all over the place, upgraded a couple of years ago stainless steel belts of international standards that slope towards you. Immigration officers we encountered (both inbound and outbound) were cheerful and friendly. Not sure how they treat foreigners but going by my experience, it was very positive. They seem to have different standards for labour travellers (typically gulf bound) and are pretty stern with them. There is a much better looking duty free shop in the baggage claim area as well. Customs agents are friendly and let you pass through without hassle. The airport is well lit both on arrival and departure areas. The departure hall has been renovated and is much more spacious than before, although queue management is completely lacking. Niether the airport staff nor the airline staff interested in organizing the queues or providing proper dividers thus increasing confusion. Duty free is pitiful. Overall, this is not Changi but the airport is easy to navigate and not chaotic and pretty functional.

Chennai Airport review by H Jana

1 April 2008   Customer Rating :

I have lived in Chennai for over 25 years and currently reside in USA, my home for the last 10 years. Frankly, Chennai airport is a nightmare. Having lived in India for long, I can put up with less-than-sparkling toilets, but what amazes me is the perennial air-conditioning problems in the airport. It is not that air-conditioning technology is rocket science. It has been in vogue for almost 100 years now. Why then is it so difficult to make the air-conditioning effective? The nearly year-long hot and humid weather of Chennai makes the airport suffocating. I really pity the westerners who have to put up with this, fuming and sweating. Other attractions of Chennai airport include glum-faced immigration inspectors, who cannot smile or even utter a word of welcome to foreigners visiting our country, indifferent and unhelpful airport staff etc. The sooner all airports are privatized in our country the better.

Chennai Airport review by S Wilson

31 May 2007   Customer Rating :

We have gone through Chennai Airport recently, in 2006 and again just a few weeks ago. Even last year, the airport was better than I had expected. This year the improvements to the International Terminal main hall are immense, more seating, gleaming floors and it seemed slightly less chaotic than our previous transit through it. Tea, coffee, cold drinks and snacks are available and the facilities are clean enough. Even the arrival and baggage collection on our inbound sector was fine. Despite the fact that the A/C isn't up and running yet, I would certainly have Chennai as my airport of choice for entering/leaving India.

Chennai Airport review by Kurt Mueller

27 April 2007   Customer Rating :

With major renovation works almost complete, MAA is now more convenient particularly for domestic travellers. There are now two separate check- in areas for all domestic carriers as opposed to only one previously (which was always overcrowded). So checking-in (and particularly baggage screening) is less stressful. Also: new are separate airline lounges, but I am not sure whether they are a real improvement. For one, the combined Paramount/Sahara lounge does not serve any beer, whereas the airport restaurant does. Second, all the new lounges lack windows - the airport restaurant offers a spectacular view across the tarmac and runways. Security uncrowded, despite my flight departing at 18.50. I checked the prices at the refreshment stand in the departure lounge, and the prices are effectively daylight robbery (Rs 60 for a can of Coke). Still a lack of airbridges, and most domestic pax have to be taken by bus. At Madras, as at most Indian airports, there seems to be a competition among airlines as to who can offer the most inaccessible airport bus - with some having you negotiate 4 steps to get on and off. Underslung bus chassis have been around since before WWII, so what happened?

Chennai Airport review by John Lumby

27 February 2007   Customer Rating :

Not a bad little airport. Always a scrum before check-in unless you are travelling in business class but generally ok facilities and duty free a bit sparse but fairly clean.

Chennai Airport review by Praveen Babu
26 February 2007

I arrived late at night and had an early morning flight to Hyderabad so had to spend the night in the Domestic terminal. Airport itself is quite clean compared to others in India. Airconditioning ineffective, so the airport itself was very humid. There seems to be a real mosquito problem in this airport. Overall, it was clean, security is a joke. Not too many shopping options or food options but tea and coffee as well as candy are available. There is a full time restaurant on the 2nd floor although I didn't try it out. International arrivals hall is surprisingly clean - okay airport for Indian standards.

Chennai Airport review by Sriram Srinivasan
18 April 2006

Chennai airport is superior to the other Indian international terminals, namely Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. You have to wait to get in through the front doors, but it's usually in the 15-20 minute range as opposed to the nearly one hour cattle stampede I had to deal with in Hyderabad. I wouldn't call the ground crews friendly, but they are reasonably efficient, and the majority of the flights leave on time. Security and immigration queues are long, but not unbearable, and definitely shorter than what you have to deal with in Delhi or Mumbai. The A/C doesn't work great, but I haven't found an airport in India where it actually does. Overall, not great, but a tolerable experience.

Chennai Airport review by T Heywood
5 March 2006

It's not that bad. Look for the "retiring rooms" bookable with the airport manager at the domestic terminal 900 rupees or 650 for a family. If your flight doesn't leave until some unearthly hour use this facility. HBO on the TV, 2 beds, fridge, air con. Hot shower. Don't want to spend money, go to the flight viewing deck on the 2nd floor. It's got a cafeteria cooling fans, reasonably quiet seating, cleaner toilets if you use the ones down the airlines office block on this floor.

Chennai Airport review by Lynne Reid
29 August 2005

We travelled through Chennai on 5 August arriving from Mumbai connecting to Columbo on Jet Airways. Incoming flight was delayed and I cannot praise the Jet Airways groundstaff who ensured we met our connection enough. They seperated our luggage out, personally escorted us through every stage of the transit and escorted is on to the plane. Everything is relative, after the horrors of Mumbai airport I found Chennai airport clean and efficient.

Chennai Airport review by Kurt Müller
20 August 2005

I often use Madras for international travel, as it has better and more frequent connections than Bangalore. In comparison, I agree that it is one of the better airports in India, particularly the international building. It is reasonably spacious given the passenger numbers, and never as chaotic as, for instance, Delhi. The airline lounges are definitely better in Madras than elsewhere in India. What is frustrating is the basic "Indian" layout of having the departure gates separated from the airbridges by a common corridor also used for arrivals, so you often find your boarding procedure interrupted by inbound passengers flowing past the door of your boarding gate. This morning, I arrived from CMB at 9.05 a.m., passed immigration, customs, and was in time to check in for a 10.05 a.m. Jet Airways flight at the domestic terminal. Hard to beat!

Chennai Airport review by Peter Yunes
29 June 2005

I fully agree with the comment from Warren Ezequiel. I couldn't believe such a long delay on immigration. The general hygiene is poor but the the toilets are the worst!!! If the local goverment wants to bring more tourist to Tamil Nadu, they should think seriosly about improving the airport image, since this is the gate to the country.

Chennai Airport review by Siva Subramanium

8 April 2005

I have travelled through Chennai airport on several occasions in the last 3 years and have found it to be best in India, so I am surprised by many of the comments. International arrivals and baggage claim facilities, though primitive, are a vast improvement on other airports in the country. On recent trips with LH, GF and BA, we were through immigration and had collected our baggage within 30mins of arrival; far quicker than at my usual LHR base. Obviously the facilities are lacking and the security formalities on departure take far longer than they should, due to the self importance nature of the Indian bureaucratic process, but things are definitely moving in the right direction. The domestic terminal is also very pleasant, and if your flight departs using one of the aerobridges, the upstairs lounge is very peaceful with light music and TV screens showing sporting events from around the world.

Chennai Airport review by Warren Ezekiel

24 February 2005

Arriving at Chennai airport on an international flight makes one sick. The long lines of people waiting to get their passports stamped on arrival is the beginning of all woes. The area around the conveyor belt is filthy with litter and the staff are not presentable whether it is their dress or even in being polite - this includes the immigration officer who stamps the passport on arrival. He looks at the passport photograph and then looks at the person as if the former was a criminal of some sort. Outside the airport there are umpteen beggars, taxi drivers, touts and the lot trying to ask one where he is going and whteher their luggage needs to be carried - even if it were a small backpack. Many NRIs of Tamil origin are ashamed of their capital city and they prefer to travel to either Bangalore, Kochi or Trivandrum. With several other cities like Bangalore getting a new airport and more international flights I feel many people even to Tamilnadu will be avoiding the Chennai airport in future. The Governments involved must have sufficient police presence at both the airport and train stations to prevent tired international travellers from being harassed. Also, the whole of Chennai needs a bit of education in how to be clean. If nothing is going to be done to make Chennai a safe, comfortable and clean place for arrival, I think it will soon lose its position as 'Gateway to the South'.

Chennai Airport review by Vijay Dandapani

7 January 2005

I was there ealier this week and found the airport has improved considerably from an earlier visit last year in terms of waiting time for immigration. Air-conditioning is still poor though and the lounge operated by Oberoi Hotels is simply pathetic - stale food and thinly staffed with nothing by way of facilities such as a shower or internet access.

Chennai Airport review by Mihraj Forouzan

17 September 2004

It is interesting to read the comments about Chennai airport given here. But what I noticed was that all of them were domestic travellers who travel from one Indian airport to the other. However, as a foreigner, I found Chennai airport to be a horror. The Chennai railway station was in a better condition compared to the airport, with its mucky smell and all. There is no airconditioning there, and in the arrivals area there is an escalator that does not work. The staff can barely speak English and when you step out of the airport, you are surrounded by beggars and taxi drivers and bums and hawkers and all sorts of people. Chennai airport can barely be called an airport. I hate to visit other airports in India.

Chennai Airport review by Ranjit Koshi

6 June 2004

After the recent tiling of Kamaraj Domestic, the airport has a wonderful new feel, a welcome change from the old flooring. I've always found this airport neat and spacious. Hopefully the expanded arrival area roofing will add to the comfort. The only flip side is the rather unhelpful, inattentive, rude attendants at the overpriced Taj food counter, that almost always refuses to return change, even if handed Rs.100 for a 60 rupee bill. Certainly one of India's most prestigious hotel chains can provide better service.

Chennai Airport review by  Olivier Beltrami

26 April 2004

I only fly in/out of Chennai on domestic flights, but it is my favourite airport in India (and I know quite a few). Driving to the airport is done through nicely tended gardens, there is a nice cafeteria upstairs and an excellent bookstore with all the most recent English books at special "for sale only in the Indian sub-continent" prices that are hard to beat. Also ... my experience has been that flight always leave on time.

Chennai / Madras  by Himmat Rathore

26 April 2004

The new international terminal is better than the terminal IIA at Bombay but not better than the Air India terminal. It certainly is better than the warehouse of a terminal at Delhi. As for the domestic terminal, it is still under renovation. I hope its comparable to the IC terminal at Bombay.

Chennai Airport review by Ganesh Natrajan

27 March 2004

I agree fully with Sibhi Ganapathy. The new International terminal in Chennai has improved dramatically in every respect. The whole terminal has been expanded with more duty free shops and some very good snack bars added on. I would rate this the best international Airport in India.

Chennai Airport review by Sibhi Ganapathy

12 August 2003

Chennai Airport after the renovation is clean and efficient. Staff helpful, the airport is easy to transit thru - even Air India staff look friendly! the Duty free shopping has greatly improved, and the immigration lines become more manageable due to opening of more counters. A very good way to enter India. Airport becomes very congested at peak hours with Malaysia Airlines having to fly from the domestic airport.

Chennai Airport review by G Srinivasan

28 July 2003

After bad experience in New Delhi and Mumbai airports, this time I thought I would try through Chennai. Except for the long queue at the immigration the airport was lot better than the other two. What was surprising was the friendly cops and customs official - compared with Bombay. Only major surprise at this international airport is duty free - just one or two shops for name sake which were closed.

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