CHENNAI: Çelebi Aviation's short-lived tenure at Chennai International Airport has come to an abrupt end after India revoked the Turkish operator's clearance, citing national security concerns linked to Ankara's growing defence ties with Pakistan.
The decision by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) takes immediate effect and forces Çelebi to suspend all ground handling activities at Chennai Airport.
Çelebi, which commenced operations at the airport just 20 months ago, had provided ground handling services for several foreign and regional carriers, including British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Scoot, Royal Brunei, SpiceJet and US-Bangla Airlines.
"The revocation won't impact ground handling operations," a spokesperson for Chennai Airport said, adding domestic service providers had already been mobilised to fill the gap in critical areas such as baggage handling, ramp operations and cargo logistics.
The officials said the cancellation of four domestic flights is not related to termination of Çelebi's services.
Two Indian firms - Bird Airport Services (Chennai) Pvt Ltd and AI Airport Services Ltd (AIASL) - are expected to absorb Çelebi's workload.
From 2010 to 2020, ground handling in Chennai was managed by Bhadra International under a decade-long licence from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). AIASL, a state-run subsidiary of Air India, stepped in temporarily in July 2021 to stabilise operations. By 2023, AAI brought in Bird as well.
