July 02, Colombo: Sri Lanka main opposition United National Party (UNP) asked the government over the fairness of charging Rs, 22,000 for air tickets between Colombo and Jaffna.

Sending a special letter to the Acting Director General of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UNP parliamentarian Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena yesterday pointed out that it is a high cost of air fares to and from Jaffna comparing to International flights.

According to Dr. Jayawardena it is only Rs. 12,500 to travel between Colombo and Chennai in India.

He said that it is only 45-minutes flight between Colombo and Jaffna, but it will take more than one hour to fly to Chennai in India.

The only alternative for the civilians to travel to Jaffna besides the air route is the A-9 highway which is still not open to civilian transport, Dr. Jayawardena pointed out.

The UNP has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to grant a relief to the air passengers between Colombo and Jaffna by considering to lower the fares as there is no missile threat at the moment.