Chennai: If the Centre yields to chief minister J Jayalalithaa's demand that the domestic terminal be named after the AIADMK founder, the airport will become the first in the country to have three names, Anna International Airport, Kamaraj Domestic Terminal and MGR Domestic Terminal - all named after former chief ministers of the state.
The airport's international terminal is named after former chief minister and DMK leader C N Annadurai and the domestic terminal honours former chief minister and Congress leader K Kamaraj. Jayalalithaa wants the new secondary domestic terminal to be named after former chief minister M G Ramachandran and even boycotted the inauguration of the new terminals to underline her intent.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will shut down and renovate the Kamaraj domestic terminal. If MGR's name is given to new domestic terminal, Kamaraj's name will be pushed into obscurity till the renovation is completed. "Renovation of Kamaraj domestic terminal may begin in three years. It will have to be rebuilt to be able to accommodate more passengers and be upgraded," said AAI chairman V P Agrawal.
04/02/13 V Ayyappan/Times of India
