Chennai Airport, the then Madras Airport has the following aviation history:-

• 1932 - 1st Aircraft landed - "Pushmoth". The usage was confined to Military Operations only during 2^nd World War.
• 1952 -  Civil Aviation Dept. took over.
• 1972 - IAAI took over.
• 1978 - Commissioning of Air Cargo Complex.
• 1985 - Commissioning of New Domestic Terminal
• 1989 - Commissioning of New International Terminal
• 2003 - New International Departure Terminal

   Chennai Airport is the major hub airport in Southern India and handled 10.5 Million Passengers; 1.10 Lakhs Aircraft and 3.23 Lakh Metric Tones of Cargo during 2009-10. Share of Chennai Airport in all India’s passenger traffic is 8.5% and is third busy airport after Delhi (DIAL) and Mumbai (MIAL) airports. It has better connectivity to the rest of Indian regional airports and to the major airports in the world.

   On an average, daily, 10,500 international passengers and 18,000 domestic passengers were handled during 2009-10 at Chennai Airport.

UNIQUE FACILITIES:-

   Chennai Airport has all the free and paid facilities at par with world class standards. It has a unique facility of Domestic and International Terminals adjacent to each other connecting with common canopy. Moreover, the Suburban railway station is connected with under passage to the airport. It has many firsts as furnished below:-

• First International Airport to get ISO-9001-2000 Certification.
• 1st to have aerobridges at Domestic Terminal.
• 1st to use Domestic terminal for International flight on wheels.
• 1st to supply free mineral water through designated water coolers at Kamraj Domestic Terminal Anna International Terminal.
• 1st to introduce paper cups at Airport to make it environment friendly.
• Adjudged 'Best Airport - Domestic Terminal' by Indian Guild of Professional Architects. The President of India gave the award.