Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 19: At a time when the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) is in the news for all the wrong reasons, an international independent agency has ranked it 33rd worldwide and the sixth best in the country.
The survey was carried out by an international agency Airport Services Quality (ASQ) which ranks airports worldwide on passenger satisfaction index. The survey was largely based on 34 criteria including infrastructure, flight handling, facilities available for the flyers, security arrangements, ease of check-in and check-out, the lounge and shopping experience at the airports. The AAI’s website, however, is silent on the matter.
Though the airports authority of India (AAI) has claimed that it is striving to render best services to passengers, recent incidents in which a private parking staff misbehaved with passengers has put a blot on the airport’s reputation., BPIA airport director Sharad Kumar said he had just heard about the survey. “Providing best services is AAI’s constant endeavour. We have strengthened amenities at BPIA but I can’t say much about the survey carried out by an international agency,” Kumar remarked.
It may be mentioned that as many as four FIRs have been lodged against a private parking contractor roped in by AAI in the past four months after a series of incidents of scuffle between parking staff and passengers were reported in the media. The owner of the parking firm is at large against whom the AAI slapped a show cause notice.
The survey judged New Delhi airport the best airport in the country in its domestic category, Mumbai airport getting the second rank, Hyderabad third, Kolkata fourth, Jaipur fifth and Bhubaneswar sixth.
The Rs 150-crore state-of-the-art domestic terminal T1 was unveiled by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the then civil aviation minister Ajit Singh March 5, 2013.