Tripura demands upper cap on airfare in Agartala sector

Despite offering a huge tax cut on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) by Tripura, aviation companies operating in the sector didn’t reciprocate the benefit to the travelers for the last three years, which made the state government unhappy. In a letter to the Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Tripura Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Saturday requested to devise a mechanism to cap airfare in the Agartala-Kolkata and Agartala-Guwahati routes considering the communication bottleneck and shortage of alternatives for the state.

Like in previous years, aviation companies hike the airfare on the routes exorbitantly ahead of the Durga puja celebration scheduled to begin in barely two weeks. Chowdhury proposed an upper cap on airfare in the routes and demanded to make Kailashahar airport with 17–19-seater aircraft in a separate letter.

Chowdhury wrote that airfares for flights between Agartala and Kolkata currently range between INR 10,000 and INR 12,000 for only 327 km of aerial distance. And, with the upcoming festival season, there are apprehensions that these prices may increase further, exacerbating the financial burden on travelers.

Referring to the recent discussions in the Tripura assembly about the irrational airfare, the minister pointed out that the state government, despite its financial constraints has reduced the VAT on ATF from 16 %to only 1 %since November 2021 to promote the aviation sector in the state and expecting favourable airfare on Agartala-Guwahati, Agartala- Kolkata routes.

“But the aviation companies are capitalising on this financial break by expanding their services to additional routes, such as from Kolkata to Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and other cities rather than benefiting travelers on the Agartala-Kolkata and Agartala-Guwahati routes.

Although the state government has reduced the tax burden on aviation companies, passengers are unable to get facilities of reasonable airfare or upgraded service quality, which is resulting in resentment among people of the Tripura, he underlined, and added, “The airlines are leveraging the tax cut to optimise their gains and increase profitability, leaving aside the benefits for travelers.”

He requested the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to consider implementing an upper cap on the highest airfare for the Agartala-Kolkata and Agartala-Guwahati routes to ease the financial burden on passengers from Tripura and other Northeastern states. Chowdhury requested the Ministry of Civil Aviation to start the operation of 17 or 19-seater aircraft by providing LoA to M/s Alliance Air and M/s Flybig Airlines from Kailashahar Airport as 4.2 bidding of UDAN, routes connecting Kailashahar to Kolkata and Agartala were awarded to M/s Alliance Air and M/s Flybig respectively to operate small aircraft.