CHENNAI: After facing a series of setbacks over a year, the landscaping and plaza construction at Chennai Airport is finally expected to be completed in October, one year post the original deadline.

According to a report in The Hindu, the project will significantly make commuting easy for passengers as it includes a secondary cab pick-up point, which will spare travellers of the lengthy walk to the Aerohub multi-level car parking facility. Airport authorities said that initial access for vehicles will be available from the first week of next month.

The development project across Domestic Terminal 1 that was launched by the Airports Authority of India in 2023 was initially scheduled for completion by October 2024. The sketch included pedestrian walkways and seating areas for travelers and those seeing them off.

However, the project faced many obstacles since its initiation including delay in handling over the space, mandatory structural reassessments followed by a canopy collapse in Delhi and subsequent redesigns for the canopies at the new plaza.

The necessary safety revisions resulted in extended delays which in turn affected both design finalization and material procurement. Officials said that despite the delays, now that all the required materials have been procured, the construction is moving at a rapid pace and they would achieve completion by the new deadline.