Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore’s Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport has reported a slight drop in the ranking of its third quarter (July - September), as per the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey report .
The airport has slipped one spot to fourth position among Indian airports. In the previous quarter, the city ranked third, while it had also stood fourth in the first quarter.
The ASQ report mentions that Indore maintained its score of 4.93, which is the same as the previous quarter.
However, it was overtaken by Varanasi Airport, which improved slightly to 4.94 to claim the third spot.
Pune Airport topped the list with 4.96 points, followed by Goa in second place.
The difference in scores between Indore and the top airports remains just 0.1 points.
In the Asia-Pacific international ranking, Indore Airport also dropped five places, from 58th to 63rd out of 98 airports.
Rat-bite incident affected reputation?
With the new rankings, officials believe that the recent rat-bite incident involving a passenger has affected the airport’s image significantly.
Notably, in September 2025, a passenger was bitten by a rat at Indore airport. The incident went viral on social media, which led to a negative public reaction.
Following the incident, the management removed the on-duty doctor and fined the cleaning and pest control contractors.
The ASQ survey is conducted by the Airports Council International (ACI) and includes airports that handle over 1.8 million passengers annually.
Airport authorities said they are reviewing passenger feedback and plan to improve facilities to regain a top spot in upcoming surveys.
India’s Top 10 Airports (July-September)
Pune
Goa
Varanasi
Indore
Chennai
Gurugram
Kolkata
Raipur
Bastar
Patna
Airport authorities said they aim to enhance cleanliness, shopping facilities, and overall passenger experience to ensure Indore regains its earlier ranking in the next survey.
