Chennai (MAA) Airport Guide 2026 — New Terminal 2, e-Visa Rules, Metro

Chennai (MAA) — The Complete 2026 Airport Guide

Two things trip people up at Chennai, and both happen before you ever taxi to the gate. First: India will not let you board without an e-Visa you arranged online days in advance — there is no visa on arrival for most Western travellers, and the fake “visa” sites that top the search results will overcharge you for nothing. Second: the big new integrated Terminal 2 has quietly taken over international flights, so the terminal you used on your last trip may not be the one you need now. Sort those two out and Chennai is one of the easier South Indian arrivals.

Last verified: July 2026. Visa rules, terminal assignments and transport fares in India change often — confirm the specifics on your ticket, on your airline’s app and on official government sites before you travel.

Quick reference

The 2026 trap: international moved to the new Terminal 2

Chennai has been in the middle of a long, phased terminal rebuild, and the result changed which building you use. The headline: the shiny New Integrated Terminal Building — Terminal 2 (T2) is now the airport’s international terminal, and it is where your long-haul flight to or from Europe, the Gulf or Southeast Asia will operate. To make room for it, the airport demolished the old Terminal 3 and folded that footprint into the expanded T2, whose second phase was completed in 2026.

Domestic flights, meanwhile, run out of Terminal 1 and Terminal 4. Which of the two your domestic flight uses depends on the airline and can change, so check the terminal printed on your ticket or in your airline’s app rather than assuming — this is the single most common Chennai mistake for connecting passengers.

Be warned that a lot of what you will read online is out of date. Older guides and even some booking sites still use the historic names — the “Anna International Terminal” and the “Kamaraj Domestic Terminal” — and some blogs still list a Terminal 3 that no longer exists as a separate building. Ignore the folklore. In 2026 the rule that matters is simple: international = T2; domestic = T1 or T4.

Getting into Chennai

The airport is close to the city — roughly 7 km southwest of the centre — but Chennai traffic is unforgiving, so the mode you pick matters more than the distance suggests. The genuinely good news for 2026 is that the Metro reaches the terminals, and it is absurdly cheap.

The Metro — the smart default

Chennai Metro’s Blue Line terminates at the Chennai International Airport station, reached from the terminals by covered walkways and travelators, so it is effectively at the airport rather than a taxi ride away. From there it runs direct — no interchange — to Chennai Central in around 40 minutes for roughly ₹40–50, and onward across the network (change at Central or Alandur for other lines). A Metro smart card shaves about 20% off each fare and saves queuing at the machine. Trains are modern and air-conditioned, which on a humid Chennai afternoon is worth more than the money you save. The catch: the Metro runs roughly 05:00 to 23:00, so a late international arrival will need a taxi.

Taxis, ride-hailing and the suburban train

For a fixed price with no negotiation, use the prepaid taxi counter inside arrivals: you pay a set fare — around ₹350–550 to the central districts, with published slabs such as roughly ₹420 to T Nagar and ₹580 out to the OMR/Sholinganallur tech belt — and get a slip showing the driver and vehicle. Ola and Uber both operate here; fares are often a little lower off-peak but jump to 1.5–2× during the late-evening and early-morning surge, and you must walk to the airport’s designated app pickup zone rather than being collected at the door. Ignore any driver who approaches you inside the hall touting a ride — the prepaid counter and the apps are the two clean options. For the truly budget-minded, Tirusulam suburban railway station sits about 500 m from the terminals and puts you on the local line into the city for a handful of rupees, but the trains are crowded, non-A/C and best attempted with only a backpack.

Entry: the e-Visa you must sort out before you fly

This is the part that ruins trips, so read it carefully. India does not offer visa on arrival to citizens of the US, UK, EU countries, Canada or Australia. If you turn up at Chennai expecting to sort a visa at the desk, you will be denied boarding at your departure airport — the airline checks before you fly. You must hold an approved e-Visa (electronic Travel Authorisation) issued before you travel.

• Apply only on the official government site: indianvisaonline.gov.in (the e-Visa portal). A whole industry of lookalike “India visa” sites buys the top ad slots and charges large “service fees” on top of the real government price, or simply takes your data. The government’s own guidance is blunt about this — use the official portal and nothing else.
• Timing: you can apply from a minimum of 4 days before arrival up to about 30 days ahead for the 30-day visa (and up to ~120 days ahead for the longer ones). Do not leave it to the airport — processing typically takes a few days.
• Tourist e-Visa types and fees (US-dollar government fees, tiered by season and duration): the 30-day e-Tourist visa is around $25 most of the year but drops to about $10 for arrivals in April–June; the 1-year multiple-entry e-Tourist visa is about $40; a 5-year option also exists. The 1- and 5-year visas allow multiple entries, with a cap on how long you can stay per visit — check the current limits when you apply.
• Chennai is an approved e-Visa airport, so you can enter on your e-Visa here. Print or save your approved ETA (the email approval) to show at immigration.
• The narrow visa-on-arrival exception applies only to nationals of Japan, South Korea and (conditionally) the UAE — it is not a route for Western tourists.

Connections and minimum times

Chennai has no secure airside corridor between its international and domestic terminals. An international-to-domestic connection here is a full re-entry: you clear immigration, collect your checked bags off the international belt in T2, pass customs, physically exit, move to the domestic terminal (T1 or T4), and check in again from scratch — including a fresh security screening.

The airport does not publish a passenger-friendly minimum connecting time for this, and airlines vary, but the honest planning number is at least three hours between an international and a domestic flight, and more during the morning and evening peaks when immigration queues build. If you booked the two flights on separate tickets, add a large buffer — nobody will re-protect you if the first runs late. A domestic-to-domestic connection (T1↔T4, or within a terminal) is far simpler and quicker, but still leave time for the terminal change.

Lounges

Chennai’s lounge scene is built around the Travel Club (TFS) brand, with locations in both the domestic terminals and the international one — the international lounge sits airside in the new Terminal 2. In India, lounge access is overwhelmingly a credit-card perk rather than a business-class-only privilege, so more travellers get in than you might expect.

• Travel Club / TFS lounges — in T1 (domestic) and in T2 (international), plus domestic capacity at T4. Entry is commonly via Priority Pass or DragonPass and many Indian and international premium credit cards; a paid walk-in runs roughly ₹2,500–2,800 (~$29–33 / €27–30) where offered.
• Priority Pass holders: the Travel Club lounges are your reliable option here. Access rules and which card covers which lounge shift periodically, so confirm your specific card’s coverage in its app before you rely on it — and check the terminal, since the international and domestic lounges are separate.

If you are flying a premium cabin on an international carrier, you will be directed to that airline’s or its alliance’s contracted lounge in T2; those are ticket-based and separate from the pay-in or Priority Pass options above.

Food, money, SIM and practicalities

Food: the reward for skipping the international coffee chains is proper South Indian food — this is the home of the dosa, idli and filter coffee. Both the domestic and the new international terminal have food courts and Tamil-style cafés; a solid vegetarian meal or a plate of idli-vada with coffee is inexpensive by airport standards. Prices airside are marked up over the street, as everywhere, but a South Indian thali or tiffin here is still good value and genuinely good.

Money: use bank ATMs in the arrivals hall rather than the currency-exchange desks, which give poorer rates. If an ATM offers to charge you in your home currency, decline and choose rupees to avoid the dynamic-conversion markup. Carry some small cash — many local taxis, the suburban train and small vendors are cash-first, even though cards and UPI are widespread in the city.

SIM / eSIM: getting a local SIM in India involves ID and a short activation wait, so if you want data the moment you land, buy a travel eSIM before departure — it is the least-hassle route and means Ola/Uber and maps work at the kerb. Free airport Wi-Fi is available but typically requires an OTP sent to a phone number, which is awkward without a working local number.

Climate note: Chennai is hot and humid most of the year and can flood during the northeast monsoon (roughly October–December) — budget extra transfer time in heavy rain, when traffic seizes up.

Frequently asked questions

At a glance

Before you fly

• 📊 Check what a good fare to Chennai looks like — our price-check tool shows the typical deal range so you know a bargain when you see one.
• 🧳 Baggage checker — confirm your airline’s carry-on and checked allowance before you pack.
• 🌏 India travel guide — regions, the best time to go, and how to get around once you land.