Agartala airport is set to become Northeast's third international airport after the airports in Guwahati and Imphal airports.
"The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has informed us that their ongoing works to make Agartala's Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport as an international one would be completed by this year end. But if the works are hampered due to the monsoon season or any other factor, then the declaration would be made by early 2020," Tripura Transport and Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said during an media interaction in Agartala.
It may be mentioned here that the AAI had undertaken a Rs 438 crore project to upgrade the Agartala airport to international standards by providing world-class facilities.
"The budgeted expenditure of Rs 438 crore is expected to be escalated. However, our government constantly asking the AAI to complete the works early and maintain the stipulated standards," Roy added.
It is worth mentioning here that Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb also recently discussed about the upgradation of the Agartala airport with the Civil Aviation Minister Raj Kumar Singh in New Delhi.
"Singh had responded to it positively," said a Tripura CMO official.
Built in 1942 by the then King Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur, the Agartala airport is the second busiest in the northeast after Guwahati's Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport.
The Imphal airport was declared as an international one two years ago.
Roy further informed that following the completion of the project flights between Agartala and Dhaka and other Bangladeshi cities will be operated.
"The state government had already provided 72 acres of land to the AAI for construction of the new terminal building, runway and other necessary infrastructure," Roy informed.
AAI officials informed that the Agartala airport handled on an average nine lakh passengers per year.
It is worth mentioning here that the airport is located 20 km north of Agartala and sits just along the Bangladesh border.
AAI is now implementing Rs 3,400 crore projects for the up-gradation of various airports in the northeastern region. Rs 720 crore project is now being implemented for further up-gradation of the Imphal International Airport.
