In the wake of the Centre’s decision to revoke the security clearance of Turkey-based airport ground handling major Çelebi, various Indian airports have ended their association with the company, and are working with other ground handling service providers to ensure uninterrupted and smooth flight operations. Between Thursday and Friday, operators of airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Goa (Mopa) announced the discontinuation of Çelebi’s services.
Amid the backlash in India over Turkey’s support for Pakistan in the India-Pakistan conflict, India’s aviation security regulator Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on Thursday revoked the security clearance of an arm—Çelebi Airport Services India—of Istanbul-headquartered Çelebi Aviation Holding on grounds related to “national security”. The revocation also applies to other entities of Çelebi in India.
Defending itself, Çelebi Airport Services India said that it is “truly an Indian enterprise” led and managed by Indian professionals, and is “not a Turkish organisation by any standard”. The company also termed as “factually incorrect” the allegations about its ownership that have been doing rounds on social media. These include the claim that Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar—daughter of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—is a part owner in Çelebi. On Friday, Çelebi Aviation Holding said that it will pursue “administrative and legal remedies” to seek the annulment of the contract terminations by Indian airports.
Çelebi provided ground handling services to various international and domestic airlines operating out of nine airports—Mumbai, Delhi, Kochi, Kannur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Goa (Mopa). According to Çelebi’s website, its India operations spanned 58,000 flights and 5.4 lakh tonnes of cargo annually. Çelebi said it directly employed over 10,000 Indians and contributed over $250 million in long-term infrastructure investments in India.
The government’s decision has brought Çelebi’s India operations to a halt, and airports and airlines that were working with the company are turning to the other major ground handling players in India’s aviation sector like AI Airport Services, Air India SATS Airport Services, the Bird group, and Indo Thai Aviation Services.
Adani group-operated Mumbai and Ahmedabad airports announced the termination of their ground handling concession contracts with Çelebi, adding that the company has been directed to immediately hand over all its ground handling facilities, according to a statement by the two airports.
The announcement from these two airports came after the GMR group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) on Thursday severed ties with Çelebi entities for ground handling and cargo operations at the Capital’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. Hyderabad and Goa (Mopa) airport, which are also operated by the GMR group, posted on social media platform X that they were working with alternative service providers and regulatory authorities to facilitate a smooth transition.
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Bengaluru and Kochi airport operators also posted public statements on X, announcing the discontinuation of Çelebi’s services, with other authorised service providers stepping in to fill the gap.
“We will continue to provide seamless service to all airlines without disruptions through new ground handling agencies selected by us. All existing employees of Celebi at CSMIA (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai) and SVPIA (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad) will be transferred to new ground handling agencies on their existing terms and conditions of employment. Ground handling operations at our airports will remain unaffected,” the spokespersons for Mumbai and Ahmedabad airports said.
In a separate statement, Mumbai airport said that it has appointed Indo Thai Airport Services as an interim ground handling service provider for three months, and will facilitate the transfer of all Çelebi employees working at the airport to Indo Thai. All ground handling equipment currently owned by Çelebi will be leased by Indo Thai. The decision followed a meeting between the airport operator and the affected airlines. Mumbai airport will also float a tender within the next three days to engage a long-term ground handling partner, who will be onboarded over the coming three months.
IGI Airport operator DIAL had also said that it was working with other ground handling players and cargo handlers to ensure “continuity and operational stability”. DIAL also assured that all employees currently on the rolls of Çelebi entities for cargo and ground handling services at IGI Airport will be transitioned to the new employers.
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