Tripura's Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury has written to Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, asking him to step in as airlines cut back services to and from Agartala, warning that the state's air connectivity is under serious strain.
Airlines scaling back Agartala routes
In his letter dated August 11, Chowdhury pointed out that Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo and Akasa Air have all either withdrawn, trimmed or announced plans to stop flying on several routes linked to Agartala over the past few months. Air India has already scaled down its schedule and is set to shut its Agartala-Guwahati route from October 22. Air India Express has cut back on key connections as well, including its Agartala-Bagdogra-Bengaluru service, which is expected to be dropped altogether. IndiGo, meanwhile, plans to pull its direct Agartala-Hyderabad flight starting October 1, and Akasa Air is preparing to exit the Agartala market entirely from October 22, ending all its services there. The minister added that connectivity to Shillong, Aizawl and the direct link to Chennai from Agartala has already taken a hit.
Fewer seats, higher fares
Chowdhury noted that this pullback is happening even as demand for flights out of Tripura keeps growing, and it has already made it harder for residents to reach major cities. With capacity shrinking, ticket prices have jumped sharply on routes such as Agartala-Kolkata, Agartala-Delhi, Agartala-Guwahati and Agartala-Bengaluru. He said the combination of costlier tickets and fewer available seats is hitting passengers hard, particularly those flying out for medical treatment, higher education, business commitments, government work and other pressing needs.
Minister seeks Centre's intervention
Chowdhury has asked Naidu to personally take up the matter with the airlines involved and push them to reconsider their decisions. He has also requested the Centre to explore every possible option to bring back the flights that have been withdrawn, keep the remaining services running, and add capacity on the routes from Agartala that see the highest demand.
