KOLKATA: IndiGo's week-long flight disruption last Dec that caused mayhem across airports, including Kolkata, pulled down the city airport's quarterly rating to the year's lowest — 72. This was the airport's worst rank in a single year, despite beginning 2025 on a high with its best-ever ranking of 57 in the Jan–March quarter. In the July–Sept quarter, it ranked 70. In the last quarter, it maintained the same rating point of 4.9, but two AAI-run airports, Trichy and Dehradun, exceeded their last quarter's performance, pushing down Kolkata's rank.
"We fared well in almost all aspects in the last quarter, but the IndiGo fiasco, coupled with continuous upgrade and construction work inside and outside the airport, may have resulted in the slight drop in ranking. However, we held on to our rating points and are ahead of the target of 4.7. We will strive to improve our ranking in the coming quarter," a senior airport official said.
In early Dec 2025, Kolkata airport, along with the rest of India, witnessed severe disruption as a nation-wide operational crisis at IndiGo Airlines took a toll on flight schedules and flyers.
While normal operations gradually resumed, the disruptions had a severe impact on Kolkata's winter travel period. "I had a harrowing experience at the airport. My flight was cancelled, my bags went missing for days, and I got the refund after more than two weeks. If someone asked me to review the airport services at that point, I would certainly point out only negatives," said Aurobindo Das, whose flight to Bengaluru was cancelled during the period.
The global Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey, conducted by Airports Council International (ACI), evaluates customer satisfaction across 31 service parameters on a 5-point scale. While Kolkata airport registered a score of 4.9 out of 5 in the latest quarter, the same as last quarter, positive feedback increased across 25 of the 31 rated service areas. The global average score stands at 4.4.
Survey respondents highlighted long wait at security checks, lack of value for money at restaurants, impatient airport staff, trouble catching connecting flights, inadequate leisure options, and the unavailability of enough washrooms as the key problem areas.
In total, 16 AAI-run airports participated in the quarterly survey.
Kolkata airport did get positive ratings for Wi-Fi service, availability of seats, courteous immigration staff, signs to access the terminal, and washroom cleanliness — areas in which the airport historically struggled.
Tamaghna Banerjee, a reporter from Kolkata, covers crime, aviatio...
Read MoreTamaghna Banerjee, a reporter from Kolkata, covers crime, aviation, human rights and politics. He has a keen interest in human interest and rural reporting. He has done his postgraduation in journalism and mass communication. He has a total of 14 years in journalism.
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