Agartala, Sep 19 (PTI) Low-cost carrier Air Asia would begin operations in Tripura from October 20, a senior official said on Thursday.

"Air Asia has got approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to start services from the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport here from October 20. Initially, the route would be Imphal, Guwahati, and Kolkata," airport director V K Seth said.

Seth said preliminary activities like recruitment of supporting and ground staff would be completed soon.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, in a tweet, had announced that the carrier would soon start its services from the state.

"It was always our demand to increase the number of flights from Agartala. After our constant follow up, finally the state has got another airline," Deb said.

At present, Indigo and Air India operate flights from Agartala to Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, and Imphal.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)