SpiceJet has been awarded the contract to operate flights between MBB Airport Agartala and Bangladesh Chittagong, Tripura Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury has said, reports Mrinal Banik for East Mojo.
According to the Minister, with the introduction of this new flight service, MBB Airport Agartala will be upgraded to International status. The flight fare is slated to remain somewhere between INR 4,000 to 4,500, he said.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of IDTR (Institute of Driving Training and Research) at Jirania, Chowdhury said, “The MBB airport situated in Agartala is soon going to be upgraded to an international airport. The state government is in talks with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to kickstart the flight services as soon as possible. The airline company SpiceJet has been awarded the responsibility to ferry passengers on the first international route. We see this international connectivity as a new opportunity for the state to grow both economically and logistically.”
Chowdhury also informed the gathering that the Indo-Bangla railway link between Agartala and Akhaura is also another key aspect of the state’s new connectivity endeavours. “DoNER Minister G Kishan Reddy during his stay in the state visited the site of the international railway corridor. We hope this railway line will be ready for inauguration within the next six months,” the minister pointed out.
Emphasising the significance of institutes like IDTR, Chowdhury said, “We should understand the background of this institute. In the last few decades, the number of private and commercial vehicles shot up exponentially as the state grew with new aspirations. But, unfortunately, the number of states and national highways could not be developed at par. Consequently, incidents of road mishaps increased. According to the data, on average 700 street accidents take place every year causing the untimely deaths of around 250 people. For any government the loss of so many lives is unacceptable and hence the idea of such an institute for imparting training to drivers was coined and is now being materialised into reality.”
According to the Minister, this institute will also help build a trained human resource for the driving sector which plays a pivotal role in Tourism. “To attract tourists, we need good hosts. Drivers are the primary hosts for tourists. If they don’t know the professional codes of communication and standards of behaviour, we will face more challenges to increase the footfalls of tourists. This institute will help in this regard as well,” Chowdhury added. (Source: East Mojo)