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Airport rankings: not much to write home about: The Indian Express
New Delhi, Sept 09: A distinct lack of improvement in the busiest airports of the country, Delhi and Mumbai, and their failure to convincingly outshine the less privileged cousins like Bhubaneshwar and Coimbatore stand out in Airports Authority of India`s latest study on customer satisfaction at all its major airports.
New Delhi, Sept 09: A distinct lack of improvement in the busiest airports of the country, Delhi and Mumbai, and their failure to convincingly outshine the less privileged cousins like Bhubaneshwar and Coimbatore stand out in Airports Authority of India’s latest study on customer satisfaction at all its major airports.
The study, commissioned by the AAI and conducted in June-July at 30 airports across the country by Development & Research Services, reveals that not much seems to have changed for the customer at the country’s top airports.
Kolkata and Mumbai, for instance, are ranked first and second respectively among the international airports but only a couple of points separates them from Thiruvananthapuram on the overall scoresheet.
Delhi, which is considered next only to Mumbai in terms of international passenger traffic, fares worse than Hyderabad, Thiruvanthapuram and Goa in terms of customer satisfaction.
As the scores in the table suggest, international airports provide the somewhat the same level of customer satisfaction as domestic ones despite cornering most of the funds.
The study, a summary of which is with available with The Indian Express, is based on responses from passengers in nine broad categories. These range from attitude of the airport staff, general aesthetics and trolley services to toilet cleanliness and general hygiene.
Responses were obtained through personal interviews as well as questionnaires. DRS claims to have interviewed 56,338 passengers—nearly 8 per cent of the weekly passenger traffic—between June and July.
Passengers were asked to grade the performance of the particular airport on a scale from 1 to 5 in the separate categories mentioned in the questionnaire. Based on the number of respondents and the responses, a customer satifaction index (CSI) was prepared.
The overall CSI compared to the previous year has gone up by just 1 per cent at all airports across the country. Cargo and air traffic services have fared better with both recording 4 per cent and 2 per cent improvement respectively.
In all, the performance has improved mostly in single digits inspiring little cofidence among passengers.
At a time when the Government plans to showcase airports like Delhi and Mumbai, sources say, the study is a big jolt to those who have been opposing private investment in this sector.
According to AAI officials, the encouraging factor has been the jump in performance of some of the smaller domestic airports.
Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar and Nagpur were singled out as being the fastest movers up the chart.
With a recently renovated terminal building, Srinagar made the biggest leap of 5 per cent compared to last year. Vadodara and Imphal, on the other hand, have slipped considerably, losing 4 per cent in a year.
Delhi, which is considered next only to Mumbai in terms of international passenger traffic, fares worse than Hyderabad, Thiruvanthapuram and Goa in terms of customer satisfaction.
As the scores in the table suggest, international airports provide the somewhat the same level of customer satisfaction as domestic ones despite cornering most of the funds.
The study, a summary of which is with available with The Indian Express, is based on responses from passengers in nine broad categories. These range from attitude of the airport staff, general aesthetics and trolley services to toilet cleanliness and general hygiene.
Responses were obtained through personal interviews as well as questionnaires. DRS claims to have interviewed 56,338 passengers—nearly 8 per cent of the weekly passenger traffic—between June and July.
Passengers were asked to grade the performance of the particular airport on a scale from 1 to 5 in the separate categories mentioned in the questionnaire. Based on the number of respondents and the responses, a customer satifaction index (CSI) was prepared.
The overall CSI compared to the previous year has gone up by just 1 per cent at all airports across the country. Cargo and air traffic services have fared better with both recording 4 per cent and 2 per cent improvement respectively.
In all, the performance has improved mostly in single digits inspiring little cofidence among passengers.
At a time when the Government plans to showcase airports like Delhi and Mumbai, sources say, the study is a big jolt to those who have been opposing private investment in this sector.
According to AAI officials, the encouraging factor has been the jump in performance of some of the smaller domestic airports.
Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar and Nagpur were singled out as being the fastest movers up the chart.
With a recently renovated terminal building, Srinagar made the biggest leap of 5 per cent compared to last year. Vadodara and Imphal, on the other hand, have slipped considerably, losing 4 per cent in a year.