Agartala airport to be made international

Agartala: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has begun preliminary work to upgrade the Agartala airport to an international airport to boost the region’s connectivity with southeast Asia, officials here said Monday.
AAI’s Agartala airport officiating controller R.C. Das said the decision to upgrade the Agartala airport was taken as part of the India’s Look East policy.
“As part of the plan, the terminal building, air traffic control tower, runway and other necessary infrastructure would be expanded and further strengthened,” Das told IANS.
A state government official said the AAI has sought 200 acres of land “to build additional infrastructure”.
The official said the chief ministers of Tripura and Meghalaya had been demanding introduction of direct flights between Agartala, Shillong and Dhaka to boost trade and economic activities between Bangladesh and northeast India.
Among the northeastern airports, only in Agartala and Guwahati airports have night landing facilities.
At present, on an average ten aircraft operate every day through the Agartala airport, connecting Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Imphal and Silchar in southern Assam.
17/05/10 IANS/Thaindian.com

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Categories: Airports May 2010