The proposed domestic airport at Thanjavur may not take off at the moment, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Since the Tiruchi airport is very close to Thanjavur, it is not operationally viable for now, the Ministry has said.

The proposed civil enclave has not been found to be operationally viable; hence, it has been “deferred for the present”, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol has said. He was responding to a question raised by DMK Member S. Kalyanasundaram in the Rajya Sabha as to whether the Centre had reviewed the progress of the proposed civil enclave at the Thanjavur airport, whether it could be brought under the UDAN Scheme, and whether there was any timeline for commencement of commercial passenger flight operations.

Mr. Mohol said the Thanjavur airport, owned and operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), was considered for flight operations under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN.

“AAI [Airports Authority of India] had proposed the development of a civil enclave comprising a terminal building, apron, link taxi track, and car parking facilities. However, in view of the close proximity of Thanjavur Airport to Tiruchirappalli Airport (approximately 40 km aerial distance), the proposed civil enclave project has not been found to be operationally viable and has, therefore, been deferred for the present,” he said.

Sources said that since there was no announcement on the dropping of the project, it might be taken up later.

Four years ago, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the IAF and AAI to develop the civil enclave. AAI had held discussions with the State government for creating an approach road for accessing the passenger terminal. AAI had also approved the terminal design and planned to start the civil work after the final approval came. About 56 acres of land was allotted for the project which would handle ATR flights. It was estimated to cost nearly ₹100 crore.

Published - August 03, 2026 09:46 pm IST