Turkish firm handling ground operations in airports including Kochi ousted

The development is expected to affect international flight operations from these airports, including Kochi and Kannur.
Nedumbassery airport
Nedumbassery airportFile photo | Express
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KOCHI: A Turkish firm handling ground operations in various airports in the country, including Kochi, was denied the security clearance on Thursday by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The move follows the Turkish government openly supporting Pakistan post ‘Operation Sindoor’ by the Indian Armed Forces after the Pahalgam terror attack.

Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd provides the services at nine airports — Kochi, Kannur, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa, and Ahmedabad. The development is expected to affect international flight operations from these airports, including Kochi and Kannur.

“The firm can no longer operate as the BCAS issued an order on Thursday revoking its security clearance. While it will have no bearings on the domestic operation, the international operations of at least 10 airlines from Kochi will be hit,” a senior CIAL official told TNIE.

Celebi is one of the three firms handling the ground operations in the Kochi airport. The two others are Bird Worldwide Flight Services (India) Pvt Ltd (BWFS) and Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AITSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India.

“Airports handling 10 to 15 million passengers are allowed to engage up to three ground handling firms. CIAL handled over 1 crore passengers for the second consecutive year in 2024. Hence we availed ourselves of the service of three firms,” the official added.

The company handles everything from passenger services and load control and flight operations to ramp services. Earlier, the BCAS issued an order revoking the security clearance for Celebi Airport Services India, which is part of Turkiye-based Celebi. Turkiye had backed Islamabad and condemned India’s recent strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, which also used weapons including drones supplied by Turkiye, in the four-day war with New Delhi.

Meanwhile, IndiGo Airlines is facing a lot of backlash on social media as it has a code share partnership with Turkish Airlines and Corendon Airlines and leases its aircraft from both domestic and international operations. Air India Express also signed a deal in February with Turkish Technic for the maintenance of its Boeing 737 fleet.

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