AGARTALA, January 17 (TIWN): With the burning issue of the spontaneous flight cancellation here in the state, Tripura seeks for 16 flights for daily operation here in Agartala airport, during a Ministry of Civil Aviation meeting at New Delhi. Tripura Resident Commissioner Delhi, Tripura Bhawan J K Sinha represented the meeting from Tripura at New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India. Tripura state Transport Secretary Samarjit Bhowmik recently said that Tripura has demanded at least 16 daily flights for Agartala airport during the meeting.

During the meeting at New Delhi on January 13, chaired by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India, the Union civil aviation ministry to revise the possibility of introducing more aircraft in the Agartala sector has sought monthly flight occupancy data from Tripura. State transport secretary Samarjit Bhowmik recently said Tripura has asked for 16 aircraft in the Agartala sector till the railways finish its broad gauge project in 2017.

Airlines representatives said they could not increase the number of flights because the flight occupancy rate in the sector was about 70%.

Mr. Bhowmik said that the Tripura passengers had been suffering from a spontaneous flight cancellation and adding feather to the hurdle the air travel agencies of the capital city has been fluctuating the air fares. The state government is planning to modify the ticket selling system. It opposed booking of multiple tickets with a single PNR and later selling them at a high rate, said Bhowmik.

Bhowmik mentioned that at present a total of 9 flights are operating its daily service at Agartala airport with Spice Jet having its additional 1 flight that sometimes gets cancelled and take the number to rest at 8. Indigo at present have 5 flights in service, Spice Jet – 2 with additional 1 flight and Air India have 1 flight in daily service in Agartala- Kolkata route and vice versa, said Bhowmik today. He further added that more than eight lakh people travel from Agartala to Guwahati, Imphal, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad every year. Air traffic has been heavy because of lack of other means of transport.

However it is mentionable here that the worst condition of the NH-44 road along with the halt of the Agartala train service has badly hit the Tripura passengers, due to which traveling through air has become more preferable recently, but the flight cancellation and the fluctuate price of the air fare has become another hurdle for the passengers here in Tripura.