Tripura urges ministry to persuade SpiceJet to continue operations to Agartala

Agartala : After Jet Airways, budget airline SpeiceJet has decided to suspend operations to Tripura capital Agartala from September 1, prompting the Chief Minister to seek intervention of the Union Civil Aviation Minister, an official said here on Saturday.

"Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had requested Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday to intervene to have the airline retract its decision," an official of Tripura Chief Minister's secretariat said.

Jet Airways had withdrawn from Tripura citing revenue losses.

Currently, IndiGo and Air India are two other airlines operating on the Agartala route. They operate direct flights between Agartala and Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Imphal and Silchar.

The Agartala airport, which was last week renamed after Tripura's last ruler Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur, is the second busiest in the northeast after Guwahati.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has started a Rs 438 crore project to upgrade the Agartala airport by providing world-class facilities, an AAI official said.

The state government has provided 72 acres to the AAI for construction of the new terminal building, runway and other infrastructure.