Kolkata Airport has introduced a real-time passenger feedback system across its domestic and international terminals, allowing flyers to report service failures anonymously through QR-code standees and upload photographs of problems while they are still inside the airport.
The digital exercise covers a wide range of passenger touchpoints, including check-in, security screening, boarding gates, immigration, retail, parking and airport amenities. Travellers can scan the QR codes to access an online survey portal, rate individual services and submit complaints linked to specific operational issues.
The system is designed to capture problems such as Wi-Fi failures, Digi Yatra disruptions, unclean washrooms, baggage delays, inadequate seating, faulty charging points and difficulties with wheelchair assistance. The feedback form divides services into specific categories. Under immigration, passengers can comment on queue waiting times, counter staff and e-gates. Washroom-related inputs include water availability, hygiene and hand dryers, while the Wi-Fi section addresses one-time-password problems and dropped connections.
A key feature is the option to upload photographs with a complaint. A senior airport official said the objective was to address operational lapses while passengers were still in the terminal instead of waiting for post-travel reviews. According to the official, a photograph showing a blocked washroom or a faulty charging kiosk can be routed immediately to the maintenance team on duty.
Another airport official said anonymous submissions would help generate what the airport described as “raw, unfiltered ground data” across different shifts. The anonymity is intended to reduce hesitation among passengers and give airport management a more direct account of conditions in terminal areas.
The initiative follows improved results for Kolkata Airport in the latest quarterly Airport Service Quality survey conducted by Airports Council International. The airport recorded better ratings in 26 of 31 parameters, with particular improvement reported in immigration flow and washroom upkeep.
However, the survey also recorded continuing passenger concerns. These included unreliable terminal Wi-Fi, a shortage of seating near security-hold areas, limited retail variety and damaged approach roads outside the terminal. The new system therefore places passenger feedback within a wider operational chain that includes terminal services as well as access infrastructure beyond the airport building.
For airport users, the change shifts grievance reporting from a post-travel review process to an intervention that can potentially happen during a passenger’s journey. A passenger quoted in the report said the QR system made it possible to photograph litter around seating rows and submit the complaint immediately, rather than treating the issue as a formal complaint likely to disappear without a response.
The airport’s next step is to use the incoming reports and photographic evidence to identify and address service lapses across terminals and operational shifts.