Agartala - Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport guide

Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport is the main air gateway to Tripura, a small Indian state on three sides bordered by Bangladesh. It is also known as Agartala Airport. The Maharaja of Tripura, Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur Debbarman, built it in 1942, and the airport carries his name.

During World War II the field supported Allied operations. Royal Air Force squadrons used it in 1943 and 1944 to supply Chindit forces in Burma, and a United States Army Air Forces transport group was based there in 1944 and 1945. Indian Airlines later flew from Agartala to Dhaka and Jessore.

The Airports Authority of India runs the airport. A new integrated terminal, opened on 4 January 2022, replaced the older building. It has 20 check-in counters, six aircraft parking bays and four aerobridges, along with an in-line baggage system. Runway 18/36 is 2,286 m long, and the original runway 05/23 now serves as a taxiway. A parallel taxiway and two hangars have been under construction.

IndiGo, Air India Express and Akasa Air connect Agartala with Kolkata, Guwahati, Bengaluru, Delhi, Imphal and other cities. The airport is classified as international, and proposals have been made for flights to Bangladesh and for a cross-border terminal.