AAI Officials, Agartala: Agartala's Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport is set to become the third international airport in the north-eastern region after Guwahati & Imphal. Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials stated that Rs. 438 crores was invested in this project and is said to be completed by March 2021.
Following the completion of the project flights between Agartala and Dhaka, as well as other Bangladeshi cities like Chittagong and Sylhet, will be operated. The airport in Agartala 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.
It is designed on a 30,000 square metre area that has the capacity to park six aircraft at a time. It will also have 20 check-in counters, four-passenger boarding bridges, conveyor belts and passenger-friendly modern facilities and amenities.
During World War II, the Agartala airport was used by the 4th Combat Cargo Group of the US Army Air Forces 10 Air Force, flying Curtiss C-46 Commando aircraft over Myanmar.
It was used as a supply point from which the unit air-dropped supplies and ammunition to the advancing Allied forces on the ground.
According to AAI officials, the Agartala airport handled on an average of nine lakh passengers per year.
The Union Civil Aviation Ministry last year renamed the Agartala airport, earlier known as Singerbill Airport, after Tripura's last ruler Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur.
The airport is located 20 km north of the capital city and sits just along the Bangladesh border.
It is to be mentioned that the renaming of the airport came in the wake of a long-pending demand of the people of Tripura as well as the state government to rename the airport after the late Monarch as a tribute to the last ruler of the princely dynasty.
According to the AAI North East Region Executive Director Sanjeev Jindal, Rs 720 crore project now being implemented for further up-gradation of the Imphal International Airport.
The Union Civil Aviation Ministry last year renamed the Agartala airport, earlier known as Singerbill Airport, after Tripura's last ruler Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur.
The airport is located 20 km north of the capital city and sits just along the Bangladesh border.
Following the completion of the project flights between Agartala and Dhaka, as well as other Bangladeshi cities like Chittagong and Sylhet, will be operated.