Chennai Airport

Cant say more about an airport that has been built only as a "Show put up". I travelled by an AI flight (International) from Mumbai to Chennai that was already 1 hour late. Landed at 12am in the morning only to be kept waiting for baggage that didn't come out for 30 mins. I saw a baggage security point that has been put just immediately near the downward escalator. There was a huge line of people trying to put their baggage in the security screening area but there could have been a big disaster with all the people coming down on the escalator and the crowd ahead not moving beyond the baggage screening. Luckily nothing happened. I travel often to Chennai on work. Must say that I have stopped using the Washrooms in this airport as they have become dirtier than before. The so called garden inside the airport is all dried up. The same old shops that have been moved from old terminal to the new one.

I visited Chennai a few times in the last month (Bangalore - Chennai domestic leg - Jet Airways Chennai - Pune domestic leg on GoAir Pune - Chennai domestic leg and Chennai - Delhi international Air India en route to Sydney. The new domestic airport is functional and it's good to see aerobridges being used for domestic flights. They have segregated the arrival and departure at the domestic terminal across two levels. However they still don't have the in-line baggage for the GoAir domestic flights. The biggest disappointment is the international section of the airport. The bathrooms are nothing to rave home about. The gates are still in the old terminal with a long walk to them. There is not a single good bookstore with a good collection of books. The shops try to fleece the customers with different prices for different passenger based on nationalities. This doesn't happen in New Delhi or in Hyderabad or in Bangalore. They don't give receipts for the purchase in the stores unless you ask for it.

Every time I enter this new so called 'swanky' terminal I keep looking (at regular intervals) at the roof and the glass panels just to make sure I'm not in way of something falling off. Surely this is the lousiest and dirtiest 'new' terminal built in the recent past. The end product is a big disappointment for those of us who have been waiting for a new terminal for over several years. This is not an 'international' airport to feel proud about. The funniest part of this airport is that only the check-in is in the new terminal and then you are led in a 'smelly' pathway (without AC) that connects the old airport for boarding the flight. The (striking) AAI staff neither want to keep this terminal clean nor allow private interested parties to maintain this airport - too bad. If I were to rate this airport on a scale of 1-10 I would definitely rate it at '1' just because when you look at it from a distance (from the roadside) it looks swanky especially when the lights are on at night!

Compared to the airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad the international terminal here is a joke. Arrival is in the old smelly terminal. Once outside chaos reigns while trying to get to your pre-paid taxi. I was pleasantly surprised while departing to see a spanking new terminal. However once inside this "new" terminal is already looking old with dirty carpets and glass windows. The worst part was that this new terminal is just a facade. One goes down the escalator to the boarding gates and finds oneself back in the old terminal once again. This so- called gateway to South India needs a new airport privately built and managed. Definitely not recommend this airport.

Charging Rs.60-70 for vehicles dropping of passengers is outright daylight robbery. Either they should keep guards like in Mumbai or Hyderabad to ward off vehicles who park on the road or they should just increase the time at least for taxis. Every time I go to the airport I get annoyed. I don't even want to go into the toilets issue and lack of eating joints.

I don't think I have ever been to a worse airport. I don't know why they have wasted money in revamping the whole place. Just giving it a bigger structure doesn't mean renovation. All those old worthless shops are still there. Food is bad. Toilets are as bad as they were in the older airport. There's no proper bar or smoking lounge. There are no food chains. The baggage counters are a total disaster. Staff are bad. My advice: avoid using this airport if you can.

I cannot think of any airport worse than Chennai airport. There is a constant smell in the building and the biggest nightmare are the toilets which are almost always wet and unclean. The airport resembles a bus station. Add to this arrogant security personnel and semi-educated staff it amounts to the worst airport in the world. What is sad is that these un-inspired people just need to compare with Hyderabad to see how bad they are. The pain just continues when you go outside to be cheated by the auto/taxi people.

The new domestic terminal seems to be improving by the day. Ample space at the drop -off area on the departure side with separate entrances for airlines clearly marked . Couple of coffee shops outside which is welcome if you have friends / relatives seeing you off. Inside there are multiple options now in terms of coffee shops restaurants (couple of them are due to open) book -shops and other small shops. Ample seating space and the quality of announcements is also very clear. The washrooms have received a lot of bad press since the terminal opened but that seems to be improving now. Not everything can be blamed on bad maintenance here some of it is also dependent on user behavior. Also noticed that there was no regular cleaning of the trash bins and most of them were on the verge of over flowing. Something needs to be done about this. The arrival side has an easy access to the car park with a luggage ramp which is quite helpful. Only minus point is the long walk from the gates to the baggage claim area. Overall an airport which is improving by the day.

Had to use the airport to take a 5am flight reached the airport at 1.30 hoping to have some dinner before checking in. Surprisingly the airport terminals were shut! The cityside has no passenger facilities - no toilets no food outlets no phone booths and no security. For a crowd of 300 about to catch the first few flights there were just 4 security guards. Terminals opened at 3am. This 'new' airport has just two outdated X-ray machines for baggage screening. Horrible queues. Airside area is equally pathetic with horrible loos. No clarity on boarding gates as there were no announcements the screens spent an unusually long time displaying information in Tamil. Additionally the design highlight of the new terminal an in-terminal garden is hardly viewable for dust on the glass curtain walls. Charging points seemed to be inactive through the terminal and the so-called food court is yet to open. All in all the most pathetic airport I've had to use.

This airport never changes. The new terminal is less than a year old and its already showing its age. Especially the washrooms. I hate using the loos of this airport with Wet floors leaking taps and worst of all the staff don't care. This airport is definitely not at all up to the mark. The staff are particularly disinterested in managing the show! Brand new class exteriors are the only thing good to see.