Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport, popularly known as Agartala airport, is likely to be declared as an international airport soon. The officials of the Tripura Transport Department and the Airports Authority of India confided the same to a news publication.
Agartala airport was built in 1942 on land donated by Tripura king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur. The airport was used as a technical base for the Royal Air Force during World War II. The airport is located 20 km north of the Tripura capital city and is the second busiest airport in northeastern India after Guwahati’s Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport.
The airport has its major crowd coming from Bangladesh. Agartala is the first stop to a destination in India or overseas as the airport is much closer to their areas than Bangladesh’s own airports.
According to news publication IANS, the Tripura state government has recommended the central government start the operation of flights from this airport to the neighbouring countries. Agartala airport is already built with all international facilities and standards.
“When Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia visited Agartala along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 4, he (Scindia) responding to our request said that the government is trying to operate flights from Agartala to Bangkok via Guwahati airport,” Tripura Transport and Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy told a news publication IANS.
Flights to Bangladesh from Agartala airport would be economically beneficial
The flights from Agartala to Dhaka, Chittagong and other cities of Bangladesh would be highly economically viable routes.
On January 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport’s new integrated terminal building. The estimated cost of the new terminal building is around Rs 500 crore. The new terminal building has a built-up area of 30,000 square metres. It is designed to handle 1,000 domestic and 200 foreign passengers during peak hours and is equipped with all modern amenities.
Earlier international flights were flown from Guwahati’s Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport (Guwahati airport) to destinations such as Bangkok, Singapore, Bhutan’s Paro, and Bangladesh’s Dhaka, according to AAI authorities. All foreign flights are currently suspended due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
