Madurai Airport (IATA: IXM, ICAO: VOMD) is a public airport serving Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The airport is located about 13 km (8.1 mi) from the Madurai railway station. It is served by four airlines, and has connectivity to Bangalore,Ahmadabad*, Chennai, Mumbai and Goa*. June 2009 will witness the first international flight from Madurai. Expecting bulk cargo traffic from 2010.
As per CII projection, the passenger traffic would touch 3.01 lakhs in 2006 and 6.15 lakhs in 2011 from 1.58 lakhs in 2005, if the airport became international. International and domestic cargo movement is also projected to grow. At present, passengers from the southern districts have to reach Chennai, Tiruchirapalli or Thiruvananthapuram to take international flights. A major chunk of passenger traffic to the Gulf and the Southeast Asian nations in these airports is from south Tamil Nadu. With work on the Sethusamudram project going on in full steam and the possibility of Madurai getting an information technology park, and Nanguneri and Thoothukudi special processing zones, introduction of international flights has become a necessity.
Madurai Airport needs to be made international one. K. Ramalingam, Regional Executive Director (Southern Region), Airports Authority of India, had gone on record, that except for immigration facilities, all other infrastructure was available at the airport and, if required, officials could be diverted from Tiruchirapalli and Thiruvananthapuram. But he made it clear that the request for upgrading should come from the airlines.
Madurai Airport