Old Video From Chennai Shared As Recent Visuals Of Flooded Mumbai Airport

An old video showing a submerged Chennai International Airport is being shared as recent visuals of Mumbai's international airport after torrential rains lashed the city this week.

BOOM found that the video is from Chennai International Airport in Tamil Nadu. The airport was flooded due to heavy rains triggered by Cyclone Michaung in 2023.

Several airlines have issued travel advisories for passengers as continuous rainfall in Mumbai led to waterlogging in many parts of the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert, forecasting heavy rain in Mumbai on August 20, 2025. Along with flight disruptions, the schedule of local trains has also been affected by the downpour over the past two days.

The Claim

Several X users shared the video with the caption, "Mumbai Airport closed!"

Click here to view the post and here for an archive.

News outlets including Republic and Daily Express also published reports using the video claiming it is from the Mumbai airport.

What We Found: Video From Chennai Airport

1. News Report From 2023: We ran a reverse image search and found several news reports from 2023 including The Telegraph Online, Hindustan Times, and Khaleej Times, which carried a visual from the viral video. The reports credited the visual to news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) with the caption "Chennai Airport runway inundated amid incessant rains triggered by Cyclone Michaung, in Chennai on Monday."

The Times of India also used the same video in its December 4, 2023, report about the flooded runway and aircraft parking area at Chennai airport caused by the cyclone. While the video appears to be from 2023, but we cannot ascertain if it is older.

2. Coordinates from Chennai Airport: A keyframe from a clearer version of the same video from 2023 shows coordinates (12°59′59″N, 80°09′47.686″E) written on a board. We then checked the coordinates on Google Maps, which showed that it is from the Chennai airport area.

We also found a document from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on its Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) website about Chennai airport which mentioned a nearby coordinate, 12°59′59.63″N, 80°09′47.62″E.