Port Blair, April 3 : Andaman and Nicobar Island’s lone Member of Parliament Kuldeep Rai Sharma on Sunday demanded chartered flights twice a week on Port Blair-Kolkata and Port Blair-Chennai routes to ensure affordable airline tickets for residents of the archipelago. In a letter to Andaman and Nicobar Lieutenant Governor Admiral (Retd) D K Joshi, Sharma called for the operation of the chartered flights on the two routes from April 15 in view of the soaring airfare in the Port Blair sector following the reduction in flights. In the letter, Sharma mentioned that due to the ongoing repair works of the runway at Veer Savarkar International Airport flights are not landing for three days every alternative week. He said because of this restriction, the number of flights to A&N Islands has been reduced by Airlines companies which resulted in the increase in Airfare in Port Blair mainland Sector. The MP pointed out that the Airfare has gone up to Rs 20,000 for upcoming months, which is unaffordable for the islanders. He said with the summer vacation in schools and colleges begining shortly, thousands of Islanders are planning to visit the mainland, but find the astronomically high ticket prices a big hurdle. Sharma pointed out that the students of A&N Islands, who are planning to pursue their higher studies in the country’s mainland, are also inconvenienced by the ticket prices. SKR SSP