Khajuraho Airport has topped India’s 2026 National Service and Customer Satisfaction Index survey even as it runs zero commercial flights — a result that highlights a gap between service-quality metrics and actual operational output.
The survey, conducted by the Airports Authority of India, ranked the airport first based on passenger facilities, cleanliness, security and service quality, factors that are measured independently of how many flights or passengers an airport actually handles.
Commercial flights have been suspended through July and August for runway and other technical works, with services expected to resume around October, leaving a two-month period with no operational revenue for the airport.
Before the suspension, Khajuraho Airport ran only two scheduled flights, to Delhi and Varanasi — a thin route network even in normal operation.
Airport director Santosh Singh said the ranking “reflected the hard work of the entire airport staff and the trust of passengers,” clarifying that the survey was conducted while flights were still active, before the current suspension began.
Singh said commercial services would resume once the runway work was completed, underscoring that the ranking reflects a snapshot in time rather than current operating conditions.
Bhopal’s Raja Bhoj Airport placed third nationally in the same survey, and Khajuraho had also topped the AAI’s customer satisfaction survey in December 2025, suggesting the pattern of strong service scores alongside limited traffic is not new.
The episode is a useful reminder for any business relying on service-quality benchmarks: a top ranking on customer experience metrics does not necessarily correlate with current operational capacity or revenue-generating activity.
The Airports Authority of India conducts its National Service and Customer Satisfaction Index survey periodically to benchmark airports on the quality of the passenger experience they offer, independent of how much traffic they handle.
Khajuraho is best known internationally for its UNESCO World Heritage-listed group of temples, and the airport primarily serves tourists visiting the site as well as pilgrims and business travellers to the region.
(Image: Photo by Z thomas, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)