Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu visited Coimbatore International Airport to inaugurate passenger facilities and outline expansion plans. He said the Prime Minister had a special focus on Coimbatore as a rapidly growing urban centre. The minister attributed earlier delays to state land allocation issues that have since been resolved. He said the central government was working to establish two small airports at Neyveli and Vellore with short runways and limited operations. The Neyveli project had been submitted to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for licensing. He added that Vellore's boundary wall was expected to be finished by the end of February 2026, enabling operational progress. He outlined plans to expand the terminal from the current 18,000 square metres to 75,000 square metres and projected annual passenger numbers of up to 15 million (mn) over the next 20 years. The project carried a budget of Rs 21 billion (bn) and was targeted for completion by the end of 2028. The minister linked the enlargement to developing the airport as a regional hub to attract more carriers and routes. He emphasised the need to strengthen international links to Dubai, Singapore, Southeast Asia and Western countries and noted that such connections depended on bilateral air services agreements. He said the government had approved three new private carriers and was promoting aircraft leasing to expand capacity. He added that India currently operated around 840 aircraft and had orders pending for 1,700 more, with additional wide body jets needed for international services from cities such as Coimbatore. He said the Ministry of Defence had withheld approval for Hosur owing to proximity to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited facility in Bengaluru and the need to reserve airspace for testing and defence activities. He clarified that the Parandur airport near Chennai was driven by the state and that the union had given in principle approval while the state must handle land acquisition and select a developer. He inaugurated the UDAAN Yatri café and Digi Yatra gates at Coimbatore International Airport.