Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Agartala: Tripura Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury wants Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu to stop airlines from cutting flights at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport. Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, and Akasa Air are all pulling back. Passengers are hurting. The state demands relief.
Air India plans to kill its Agartala to Guwahati route on October 22. IndiGo wants to drop its direct Agartala to Hyderabad flight on October 1. Akasa Air intends to stop all operations in the state starting October 22. Air India Express is also cutting its Agartala to Bagdogra to Bengaluru service. These moves follow earlier losses of routes to Shillong, Aizawl, and Chennai.
Fewer flights mean higher costs. Passengers heading to Kolkata, Delhi, Guwahati, or Bengaluru now face massive price hikes. Chowdhury says the "reduction in flight services has come at a time when demand for air connectivity from Agartala is steadily increasing." Students, business owners, and patients are bearing the brunt of this financial hardship.
Chowdhury wants the Ministry to force airlines to keep their current schedules and add more capacity. He argues that reliable flights are vital for the state to grow. The Centre must now step in to lower fares and restore travel options for residents.
Updated at 12th August 2026 at 2:00am
Chowdhury sent the formal request to Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu on Tuesday. In the letter, the state official warned that the current flight schedule chaos is triggering a palpable sense of panic among travelers who rely on the airport for essential transit.
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