Chennai Airport

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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'.