AAI Charts Expansion Plan for Puducherry Airport; Seeks 402 Acres Across TN, UT

The Authority has prepared a master plan for the extension of the Puducherry Airport, which will facilitate the operations of A-320 Class aircraft. The runway would be extended to 2,300 m in length and 45 m wide, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu informed Parliament on July 24, 2025.

The Minister stated, in response to a query by Puducherry MP V. Vaithilingam, that the expansion requires an additional land acquisition of about 402 acres– 217 acres in Tamil Nadu and 185 acres in Puducherry. The Master Plan has been formally shared with the Puducherry Government for further coordination.

At present, Puducherry Airport has very little connectivity, offering its scheduled flights only to Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The MP asked whether the Center would consider expansion of services from this airport to Kochi and Shirdi, with the large number of travelers conducting business from this region.

The Minister gave clarity by stating that the government does not dictate flight routes as their aviation industry is deregulated. “After the Air Corporation Act was repealed in 1994, airlines were free in terms of their route selections, the deployable types of aircraft they chose to operate, and their entire servicing networks, based on the commercial and operational viability,” he said.

Thus, AAIs’ expansion plan marks a historical event in terms of the improvement of air connectivity within the Union Territory. However, operation of the plan also depends on land mega acquisition from two admin regions of India, which requires synchronization with the central government in conjunction with the Puducherry administration and the Tamil Nadu government.

This can lead to tourism and economic development in the target area, but deadlines are still not clear due to the very lengthy process of first obtaining approvals before undergoing land acquisition processes.

From the center, it shows that thrust has been given to enhance tier-2 and tier-3 airports across India under these schemes as part of regional connectivity initiatives, but the airline’s participation and inter-state cooperation determine the success of these expansions.