The MBB Airport of Agartala which had been pegged as the International airport with all required facilities would soon be operational for Agartala- Chittagong air service.
The Air service under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik)-RCS (Regional Connectivity) scheme would be thrice a week and fare would be Rs 4500 a passenger.
The Cabinet on Tuesday also decided to bear a maximum expenditure of Rs. 15 crore annually as viable gap funding, said Information and cultural affairs minister Sushanta Chowdhury at a press meet at the state secretariat today.
Chowdhury said, the state government had already discussed the matter in threadbare with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and decision was taken for the Agartala- Chittagong flight service.
It is learnt that the state government had to choose one from the two options that the central government had given for the proposed international flights—one Agartala- Dhaka and the other Agartala-Chittagong. The state choose the Agartala-Chittagong.
Sources said, the state government choose Agartala- Chittagong route keeping in mind the emerging business potential in the region pivoting South Tripura and Chittagong . Sabroom is soon going to be connected with Chittagong and then it would open up to the port giving a massive fillip in the trade and commerce between the two countries extending upto entire South East Asia. Naturally , it would also give a tremendous boost to business travel as well as tourism travel in future. While Agartala –Dhaka bus service is there and soon rails will also connect Agartala Akhaura –that left adequate transport and travel opportunities- there was virtually no Agartala- Chittagong direct travel route.
However, since there will be a shortage of passengers but no air service provider is expected to fly their air service with loss the state government will provide the VGF for three years.
Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport in Agartala, the second busiest airport in the northeast after Guwahati airport, has also been ready to handle international flights after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new integrated terminal building on January 4.
It was built at a cost of Rs 500 crore and with a built-up area of 30,000 square metres. The integrated terminal building at the MBB airport can handle 1,500 passengers, including 200 international passengers, during peak hours and it is equipped with all modern and sophisticated facilities.
