AAI’s plans killed changes at the airport for a better passenger experience

The new signboards, which are expected to be installed within four months, will be significantly larger and will also be well lit. | Photo credit: SRINATH M.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has drawn up a detailed plan to improve various facilities – from improving signage to creating workstations – at the domestic and international terminals at the Chennai airport.

AAI officials said that over the past few weeks, they have carefully identified all the problems faced by passengers and have come up with a comprehensive proposal to rectify them.

These plans come soon after the Tamil Nadu government sent a letter to the Center seeking to change the operator of the city’s airport.

One of the main complaints is the lack of signage in the terminals, officials said. “We have identified places where signage is missing or inadequate. The distance between terminals will also be mentioned on the new signboards. Also, the size of the signboard in all marked areas will be increased significantly and will be well-lit to attract the attention of passengers. This will improve navigation to a great extent,” the official said. The new boards are expected to be installed within four months, officials said.

AAI will also have display boards that will indicate the waiting time above each queue at the security check. “Usually people take a look and go by their gut feeling as to which line might have the shortest waiting time. Now we are planning to fix boards displaying the live waiting time above each line to help passengers,” the official said.

The type of furniture in the terminals will also change; plastic chairs may be replaced with sofas and more murals reflecting the state’s heritage will be added to lift the atmosphere, officials said.

“We also plan to create workstations where passengers will have comfortable furniture to sit and work on their laptops, allowing them to use their time before boarding. This will be useful for thousands of commuters,” the official added.

In addition to these changes, accessible charging stations, more greenery and improvements to children’s rooms will also be introduced. “We will work to drastically modernize the terminals and provide a better experience,” he said.

However, these plans have to be approved by the AAI headquarters in New Delhi before they can be implemented, sources said.

Published – 21 Sep 2026 0:17 IST