Agartala to be international airport

The Agartala airport in Tripura’s capital is set to become the third international airport in India’s north-eastern region, after Guwahati and Imphal, by the end of 2019 or early 2020.

“The Airports 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.

The AAI had undertaken a project to upgrade the Agartala airport to international standards by providing world-class facilities.

After the project is completed, Singha Roy said flights will be operated.

between Agartala and Dhaka, as well as other Bangladeshi cities like Chittagong and Sylhet.

“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.”

According to AAI officials, the Agartala airport handled on an average nine lakh (900,000) passengers per year.

The airport is located 20 km north of the capital city, just along the Bangladesh border. During World War II, the Agartala airport was used by the 4th Combat Cargo Group of the US Army Air Force’s 10 Air Force, flying Curtiss C-46 Commando aircraft over Myanmar. It was used as a supply point from which the unit airdropped supplies and ammunition to the advancing Allied forces on the ground.

The airport in Agartala is the second busiest in the Northeast after Guwahati’s Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport.

The Imphal airport, located in the capital of Manipur, is the largest after Guwahati and was declared an international airport two years ago.