Khajuraho Airport has been named India’s top airport despite having no commercial flights for two months.

The ranking comes from the 2026 National Service and Customer Satisfaction Index survey conducted by the Airports Authority of India, which judged airports on passenger facilities, cleanliness, security and service quality rather than flight volume.

Flights at Khajuraho have been suspended through July and August for runway and other technical works, with services set to resume around October.

Before the suspension, the airport ran only two scheduled flights, to Delhi and Varanasi.

Airport director Santosh Singh said the ranking “reflected the hard work of the entire airport staff and the trust of passengers,” noting that the survey was carried out while flights were still active.

He added that commercial services would resume once the runway work was complete.

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.

Local residents have questioned the mismatch between the airport’s top ranking and the complete lack of flights this July and August.

Khajuraho Airport’s runway is 2,286 metres long and 45 metres wide, and its terminal building, inaugurated in January 2016, was constructed at a cost of roughly Rs 90 crore.

Most travellers using the airport are headed to the nearby Khajuraho Group of Monuments, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its intricately carved medieval temples.

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)

A SpiceJet flight to Pune, SG 939, was delayed by more than six hours before being cancelled at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, stranding over 180 passengers.

The flight had a scheduled 9:15 p.m. departure on July 27, but passengers remained at the airport until nearly 3:30 a.m. as the delay dragged on.

SpiceJet said a technical issue with the aircraft was behind the delay, which ultimately resulted in the flight being cancelled.

Passengers said communication from the airline was poor in the last hours of the wait, especially between 2 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.

There were also complaints that no proper food or drink arrangements were made for those waiting through the night.

The delay led to visible frustration among passengers, resulting in a tense confrontation with SpiceJet ground staff.

Passengers have sought a DGCA probe into the incident, and SpiceJet said an additional flight was arranged for all affected travellers along with an apology for the inconvenience.

DGCA regulations require Indian carriers to provide passengers with free meals and refreshments once a delay crosses a specified threshold, along with accurate and timely updates on the flight’s status.

The regulator’s rules also require airlines to arrange free hotel accommodation and transport for passengers facing an unplanned overnight delay, rather than leaving travellers to arrange and later claim reimbursement themselves.

SpiceJet is one of India’s major low-cost carriers, operating both domestic and select international routes out of hubs including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Passengers have increasingly taken to social media to report flight delays and cancellations, often tagging the DGCA and the civil aviation ministry directly to seek faster redressal.

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport is India’s busiest airport, handling a high volume of daily domestic and international departures, which can compound the impact of any single flight’s delay or cancellation.

(Image: Photo by Kprateek88, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0/2.5/2.0/1.0)

Delhi’s IGI Airport confirmed on Tuesday that flights were operating normally even as the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for heavy rain across the NCR.

The airport’s advisory, issued through operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), said adverse weather was expected through the day, but that flight operations had not been affected so far.

Passengers were advised to check their flight status directly with their respective airlines before leaving for the airport, in case conditions changed quickly.

Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo separately issued advisories, asking travellers to keep track of their flight timings during the red alert period.

According to the IMD, Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad were expected to see cloudy skies, intermittent light to moderate rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds through the day, with an additional spell of rain forecast for the evening or night.

An orange alert has also been placed on the region for the next 48 hours, pointing to further showers even once Tuesday’s red alert conditions ease.

This follows a similar red alert a day earlier for eastern Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Maharashtra, where the IMD warned of extremely heavy rainfall and flash flood risk, part of an active monsoon spell across northern and western India.

Comparable alerts had also covered Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir earlier in the week as the same system moved across the region.

Authorities also warned of possible traffic congestion and waterlogging in low-lying areas of the city due to the intensity of the rain.

Commuters were advised to check road conditions before travelling and avoid flooded stretches, even as the airport reported no disruption to flight schedules, with travellers encouraged to allow extra time given the unsettled weather expected in the days ahead.

Passengers have also been pointed to the airport’s official website and social media channels, where live flight information is being updated through the day.

(Image: Biswarup Ganguly (CC BY 3.0))