Why India grounding Turkish aviation firm Celebi is a seismic security shift

India Today

18-05-2025

Turning on the diplomatic heat in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, India has revoked the security clearance of Celebi Airport Services, a Turkish aviation ground handler.The ruling applies to Celebi's operations at nine of the country's busiest airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, where the company carried out sensitive assignments, such as cargo logistics and handling of passengers.The official reason: national security. But underneath are layers of geopolitical unease, a turning over of India's security doctrine, and economic rebalancing in a region where diplomacy is often bound up with military alignments.advertisementThe revocation, announced by India's aviation security regulator, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), states that the presence of Celebi in secure airside areas may not be safe. Celebi's aviation security clearance, under Rule 11 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, with effect from December 2, 2019, 'has been suspended indefinitely', the BCAS said in its May 15 order.Founded in Istanbul, Celebi has over 10,000 employees globally, about 7,800 of them in India alone. It handles over 58,000 flights and 540,000 tonnes of cargo every year in the country. At Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, it has nearly 70 per cent of the ground-handling business. In other words, Celebi isn't your average retailer. It's a part of the Indian airport ecosystem—and uprooting it is no small disruption.The company had it coming. It all followed Turkey's open political and military backing of Pakistan in the recent flare-up with India. And whether it is drones and surveillance systems or other ammunition, Turkey has for long been Pakistan's ally vis-a-vis India.advertisementIn the four-day military offensive, more than 350 Turkish-manufactured Bayraktar TB2 and Asisguard Songar drones were sent to Pakistan and used to undertake large-scale strikes on Indian military and civilian installations.In the airport ecosystem, ground handling is more than just marshalling planes and logistics. It encompasses load control, cargo security checks, passenger document checks and logistics coordination in sterile airport areas. India's aviation security mandarins say that at a time when crucial systems can be breached just as easily with a crowbar as with a computer, every access badge is a potential access device.There have been no specific reports of any wrongdoing by Celebi India so far, but the government action appears to be one based more on preemption than on a sense of response. India's new security doctrine is that it considers terror attacks against it as acts of war.It's no easy to task to fill in the shoes of an entity as big as Celebi. At large airports like Delhi and Mumbai, unable to deal with increased load in a post-pandemic world, any operational vacuum is liable to snowball into delays, bottlenecks and reduced service quality.Now, airport operators, such as the GMR Group and Adani Group, are holding eleventh-hour talks to assign Celebi's slots to other licenced ground-handling companies. It is unclear how quickly that shift can happen. Airlines, especially those relying on Celebi's integrated services, will likely also need to overhaul contracts and workflow protocols.advertisementAt Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, operator DIAL (Delhi International Airport Limited) has stepped in to manage the transition, coordinating with existing ground-handling providers AISATS and Bird Group to maintain service continuity. For cargo operations, a pre-approved handler is being onboarded to avoid disruptions. DIAL has also assured that all elebi employees will be retained under new employers without any change in their terms of employment.Union civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu has asserted that national security will always take precedence over commercial interests. 'Nothing is above the security of our nation and our fellow citizens,' he said, underlining that public safety is 'paramount and non-negotiable'.At the same time, the government is working to ensure that passenger experience and cargo operations remain uninterrupted. 'We are deploying special teams to oversee operations and address any emerging issues in real time,' the minister said. He added that the ministry is coordinating closely with airport operators to ensure a smooth transition and making efforts to safeguard the jobs of Celebi employees.advertisementMeanwhile, elebi has rejected what it calls 'misleading and factually incorrect' allegations circulating on social media about its ownership and political affiliations. The company clarified it is majority-owned by international institutional investors based in Canada, the US, the UK, and other countries, and is managed entirely by Indian professionals. 'We are not a Turkish organisation by any standard,' the company said, adding that it has operated in India for over 15 years, employs more than 10,000 Indians, and has invested over $220 million in aviation infrastructure.BJP supporters on social media have been alleging that the firm has links to the family of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. elebi denied this, stating unequivocally that 'no one named Smeyye owns any shareholding in the parent organisation', and that the Turkish shareholding is limited to two founding family members with no political affiliations.From disallowing Chinese telecos and ramping up scrutiny for investment from countries with which India shares 'land borders', the government has been unapologetically direct in its recalibration of the economic engagement with national security as the new axis.Added to that list now is Turkey—not yet formally, but ideologically. India is also a burgeoning alliance with Turkish geopolitical foes such as Greece, Cyprus and Israel. advertisementRevocation of security clearance of a ground handler of a foreign country is rare. In sectors such as telecom and energy, governments are pulling access rights or contracts all over the place when it comes to national security. Aviation is no different, especially since 9/11. Nevertheless, such revocations are typically rare.What sets the Celebi case apart is that the company has faced no trouble in India for over a decade since it began operating in the country. Its removal despite a perfectly clean record is an indication of India shifting its security doctrine from reactive to preventive. It also underlines Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new mantra: trade and terror cannot go on together. Subscribe to India Today Magazine