Khajuraho Airport in Madhya Pradesh Ranks Best in India Even Without a Single Flight In Weeks.

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By Gopal Ram Tripathi

IMAGINE AN AIRPORT being called the best in the country, even though no plane has landed or taken off from it in weeks. That is exactly what has happened with Khajuraho Airport in Madhya Pradesh. It has topped the Airports Authority of India's (AAI) Customer Satisfaction Index, even though it has recorded zero commercial flights in July and August this year.

The airport serves Khajuraho, a small town famous for its UNESCO-listed temples. This surprising result has sparked a fresh debate about whether passenger satisfaction alone is the right way to judge how well an airport is doing, especially when that airport barely has any traffic to begin with.

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An Airport With No Flights In Weeks Ranked First, How?

The AAI runs a survey called the Customer Satisfaction Index, or CSI, twice a year. Independent agencies carry out this survey by asking passengers about their experience at different airports. The survey looks at 33 things in total, such as how clean the airport is, how helpful the staff are, how good the Wi-Fi is, how smooth security checks are, and how easy it is to find your way around.

Importantly, the survey does not look at how many flights an airport runs or how well connected it is to other cities. It only measures how good the passenger experience feels. This is exactly why a small, quiet airport like Khajuraho can beat much busier airports on this list.

Even during its busiest period, Khajuraho Airport only had flights connecting it to two cities, Delhi and Varanasi. Right now, even those two routes are shut down. Airport Director Santosh Singh has said that flights on these routes are expected to start again from October this year.

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Quality over Quantity, Few Passengers Provides Great Management

Since Khajuraho Airport had very few passengers even before its flights were paused, people who did travel through it had a smooth and easy time. There were shorter lines, faster security checks, quicker baggage pickup, and much less crowding compared to a busy metro airport. All of this naturally leads to happier passengers and a higher satisfaction score.

This shows an interesting pattern: an airport with fewer people to manage can often feel nicer to use than a huge, busy one, purely because there are fewer crowds and less rush. It also raises a fair question, should an airport be praised as the "best" if it isn't actually helping many people travel? Some experts feel that ratings like this should also include how well an airport connects people to other places, not just how comfortable it feels while walking through it.

Khajuraho Airport wasn't built as a quiet, empty facility. It was originally developed to make it easier for tourists to reach the famous Khajuraho temples. The airport has grown steadily since it first began operations back in 1978. In 2016, a new terminal building worth ₹90 crore was completed, making the airport more modern and comfortable. So, even though it currently sits without any scheduled flights, the airport itself is well built and well maintained, which is part of why passengers rate it so highly.

The story of Khajuraho Airport is a strange but useful reminder of how rankings can sometimes tell only part of the picture. On one hand, it proves that a smaller airport with less rush can offer a more pleasant experience than a crowded one. On the other hand, it shows why a survey based only on passenger comfort might not always reflect how useful or active an airport really is. As Khajuraho waits for its Delhi and Varanasi flights to resume in October, its story is likely to keep the conversation going about how India should measure the true performance of its airports through comfort, connectivity, or perhaps both.

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