The Airports Authority of India recently announced that Agartala’s Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport (MBB) will be operating flights to Bangkok through Guwahati, and Chittagong and Dhaka, Bangladesh, in the future. Located 20 km north of Tripura, the airport is the second busiest in the northwestern region of India.
This means that the MBB airport is the third international airport in the northeast after the Guwahati airport in Assam and Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal, Manipur.
The MBB airport was inaugurated on January 4 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The airport’s first flight came in from Kolkata with 143 passengers on board. The airport saw the commissioning of a new terminal building.
A cultural function was also held here during that event, and the famous Hojagiri tribal folk dance was staged by tribal women.
The airport cost a total of INR 500 crore, and the new terminal has been designed to hold 1500 passengers, with 200 international passengers at peak hours. The new terminal building is being touted as one of the best in the northeast region, and has all modern amenities.
The airport was earlier known as Singerbill Airport, and was renamed only in July 2018. The airport sees a massive footfall of Bangladeshi tourists who come to travel the country. The airport is equipped with all modern amenities and is upto the international standards.
According to a statement by historian and writer, Pannalal Roy, “During the Second World War, King Bir Bikram supported and helped the Allied powers, especially Great Britain. He deployed a contingent of the Tripura Army to assist Great Britain. During that time Agartala, Kailashahar and other airports were built to facilitate the Allied powers.”
