AGARTALA: The Tripura government has expressed hope that air connectivity between the state and Bangladesh would begin soon.
“We are hoping that flights connecting Agartala and Chittagong (in Bangladesh) will begin soon,” said Tripura minister Sushanta Chowdhury.
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This was stated by Tripura transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury after a meeting with officials of the department.
Notably, DoNER minister G Kishan Reddy had announced that works of Agartala-Akhaura railway project are at an advanced stage.
Last month, the Tripura government had urged the central government to provide adequate personnel belonging to the central industrial security force (CISF) to operate the Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) airport in Agartala round the clock.
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Tripura government wrote to the union home ministry to deploy adequate number of CISF personnel at the MBB airport in Agartala to begin night landing of aircrafts and extend services at the airport 24×7.
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Tripura transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury had said that the union ministry of civil aviation has constructed one of the most modern airports in the country in Agartala comprising of all state-of-the-art facilities.
But due to a shortage of security personnel and fire service crews, the airport has not yet been functional round the clock, which has been taken up with the ministry of home affairs and civil aviation, stated Tripura transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury.
The Tripura minister stated that for MBB airport in Agartala to operate round-the-clock, it would need at least 342 CISF personnel and a contingent of fire service crew.
However, the MBB airport in Agartala is currently equipped with only 230 CISF personnel, which is not enough for the airport authority to run the airport 24×7, the Tripura minister said.
Shortage of 112 CISF personnel prevented the airport to extend the service beyond specified hours, the Tripura minister said.
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“If night landing begins, Agartala airport can facilitate the emergency landing of any flight in case of an emergency and airlines can also extend their service at night like other cities,” Tripura transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury said.
He added: “At present, the first flight moves out of Agartala at 9 am and the last flight reaches at 8.30 PM.”
“There is no flight service at night despite Tripura being mainly dependent on aviation connectivity,” Chowdhury stated.