Citing national security concerns, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has suspended the security clearance of Celebi, a Turkish ground handling business. The action was started today and is a direct result of the Turkish government’s assistance to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. Major international airlines use Celebi’s passenger and cargo ground handling services at nine airports across the nation, including the busiest ones in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. It also manages the cargo terminal in Delhi.
At the nine airports, Celebi manages over 160 flights every day. In India, Celebi employs 7,800 people. To maintain flight operations, it is anticipated that other ground handling firms including Bird Group, AISATS, and AI Airport Services Ltd will assume Celebi’s contracts and its workforce in India. To facilitate the transfer, the validity of Celebi’s employees’ airport entry passes is probably going to be extended.
Celebi, which has been operating in India for more than ten years, started off as a joint venture in Mumbai before progressively growing to eight other locations. In the past week, it has faced criticism after Turkey criticized Operation Sindoor. There have been requests for termination and concerns expressed regarding the security danger of having a ground handler of Turkish descent at airports.
Dave Dorner, the group CEO of Celebi Aviation Holdings, met with representatives of the Civil Aviation Ministry to convince them not to act. In a separate letter to Mumbai Airport, the CEO of their India operations insisted that the airline had no political ties to Turkey.
