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Airports rush transition as Turkish firm blocked
India revokes security clearance for Çelebi Aviation, impacting ground services at nine airports amid tensions with Turkey, sparking potential disruptions.
Major Indian airports are racing to avoid disruptions to services after the government on Thursday revoked the security clearance of Turkish-founded Çelebi Aviation, which handles ground based services in nine major airports, citing national security concerns.
The development comes amid mounting tensions between India and Turkey over the latter’s diplomatic and military ties to Pakistan.
Industry analysts suggest that while airport operators appear to have contingency plans in place, the immediate challenge will be maintaining services at the affected airports while new service providers fully assume responsibilities.
Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said efforts were being made to accommodate Celebi employees with other ground-handling firms to ensure continuity. Celebi has over 10,000 employes in India, according to a company statement.
The company provides services at Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Kannur, Chennai, and the MOPA airport in Goa. It also runs one of Delhi airport’s two cargo terminals as a joint venture with the airport operator.
The operators of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Goa said they were ending ground handling agreements with Celebi and making alternative arrangements for avoiding disruptions.
Officials close to the development said that BCAS is working directly with airport operators to ensure smooth transitions.
“The Celebi staff in all nine airports will be moved to other ground handling agencies. BCAS has taken up the task of helping in smooth transitioning of staff and will issue special passes to Celebi staff to enable them to work for other ground handling agencies,” said an official familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity.
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Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which manages India’s busiest airport, announced it has formally severed ties with Çelebi.
DIAL said it is coordinating with existing service providers AISATS and Bird Group to maintain ground handling operations, and is working to onboard pre-approved cargo handlers to ensure uninterrupted cargo services.
DIAL also stated that all employees currently working for Çelebi at the Delhi airport will be transitioned to new employers “with immediate effect” and will continue under their existing terms and conditions of employment.
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Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) said in a statement it is “working closely with existing ground handling service providers to ensure continuity and operational stability” and “actively coordinating the transition to maintain seamless airport operations.”
Çelebi Aviation on Thursday denied “misleading and factually incorrect allegations” about its ownership structure and operations, a reference to unconfirmed reports that its ownership was linked to the government in Ankara. The company said it is majority-owned (65%) by international institutional investors from Canada, the US, the UK, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Western Europe.
Mark D. Martin, CEO of Martin Consulting, warned of potential disruptions: “The government withdrawing the security clearance of Celebi will have a rippling effect on domestic and international import and export cargo movement. Costs for cargo handling are expected to skyrocket. The public can expect delays in import and export cargo clearance, transshipment, and customs processing dwell time.”
Martin added that “aviation should be kept away from geopolitical dynamics” and noted that “Celebi has had an impeccable safety and security track record in India working with CISF and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, raising the bar with airport security and bomb detection.”
