Cabinet approves Declaration of Madurai Airport, Tamil Nadu, as an International Airport

• Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, on 10 March 2026 approved declaration of Madurai Airport, Tamil Nadu as an International Airport.
• Madurai is the Temple City (Meenakshi Amman Temple) and a gateway to Southern Tamil Nadu; international status is pitched as enabling pilgrim tourism, trade and regional economic development.
• Relevant for UPSC under GS-II (governance) and GS-III (infrastructure/civil aviation); latest in a sequence of cabinet-level international airport upgrades (Kushinagar 2020, Surat & Ayodhya 2023).