In a surprising turn, the airport serving the temple town of Khajuraho has just been crowned India's best-rated airport, at a time when not a single commercial flight is taking off or landing there, a TOI report stated. The honour comes courtesy of the Airports Authority of India's Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI), a report card the AAI puts together twice a year to gauge how happy passengers are with the country's airports. Khajuraho topped the latest list. The catch: its tarmac has been empty since the start of July, with the airport's entire flight schedule on pause through August.
A Runway Gathering Monsoon Dust
Even in its busiest days, Khajuraho was never a hub of frantic activity. The airport's flight roster has historically consisted of just a pair of routes, one to Delhi, another to Varanasi, and both have now been shelved.
Also Read: Bank of Baroda data breached: Is your account in danger? 7 things you can do to protect your account
"There haven't been any departures from here since the first of July," airport director Santosh Singh confirmed, adding that the two suspended routes are expected to resume only in October.
It's a quiet chapter in the story of an airport with real history behind it. The terminal building dates back to the late 1960s, and by most accounts, the first aircraft touched down there in 1978. Decades on, it has now managed to outrank far busier, higher-traffic airports across the country, without moving a single passenger in the process.
What Exactly Is Being Measured?
The CSI isn't based on flight punctuality or passenger volume at all. AAI hires independent survey agencies to interview travellers on 33 different touchpoints, everything from parking and ground transport to Wi-Fi connectivity and food courts, along with separate questions on how clean and hygienic the premises feel. All of it is rolled up into a single score out of five.
That methodology explains the seemingly odd outcome. An airport doesn't need heavy footfall to score well, it just needs the people who do pass through, even occasionally, to walk away impressed.
"It basically means an airport that only operates seasonally can still top the charts if the infrastructure, upkeep and staff behaviour are on point," said frequent flyer Rahul Gupta, reacting to the news.
Mixed Emotions on the Ground
The result has amused as many people as it has pleased. Social media and local chatter have been full of jokes about an airport winning top honours while its runway sits idle for weeks on end.
Not everyone is laughing, though. For many in Khajuraho, the ranking is a genuine point of pride. "It feels good to see our airport recognised this way," said local resident Mani Ram, crediting the spotless terminal and the warmth of the staff, the very things passengers seem to have praised in their feedback.
Also Read: Chicken sale in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry to be stopped from Friday July 31. Here's why
Whichever way you look at it, Khajuraho's win raises a fair question about what "customer satisfaction" should really measure at an airport, the experience of the few who use it, or the scale at which it operates. For now, the temple town's airport gets to hold both titles at once: India's most satisfying airport, and one of its quietest.
Flights are due to resume in October. Until then, Khajuraho's runway will keep its unusual record intact, a five-star airport with nowhere to fly.
