Tripura, a hilly state in northeast India, wants to start international flights on the Agartala-Chittagong-Agartala route by the end of this year
Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury of the state government said the Tripura government approved a proposal in this regard on Tuesday, according to The Indian Express.
In January, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an announcement to commence international flights from Tripura in an effort to boost ties with neighbours and explore trade and bilateral opportunities in the region.
In keeping with Narendra Modi’s announcement, the Tripura state cabinet formally approved the proposal following approval from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of the country.
Now, the proposal requires ratification by the central government and other authorities concerned to actually start the service. However, Sushanta Chowdhury said he is hopeful of seeing the Indo-Bangla international air service commencing this year.
An amount of Rs. 4,500 would be charged per passenger, the Indian Express said in a report.
“While full occupancy is not expected in the first few years of operation, the state government has decided to bear Rs 150 million expenditure annually as viability gap funding which would aim for subsidising 50 per cent operational cost shortfall in the first three years of operation,” the report said.
On why Chittagong was chosen as the destination instead of Dhaka, which is a more popular destination, Sushanta Chowdhury said a survey on preferences of passenger movement and fund requirements was done to decide on the destination.
However, flights to Dhaka and other popular destinations like Bangkok, Singapore, Malaysia etc would be started in future if there is a demand among passengers.
