Latest news with #GHAs
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
No problems at major airports after Celebi's ban as other ground handlers take responsibility
Following the ban on Çelebi, most affected airports smoothly transitioned ground handling operations due to a government rule mandating multiple GHAs for high-traffic airports. Other ground handlers stepped in, ensuring minimal disruption. Çelebi's employees were absorbed by other companies, and operations have stabilized, with existing handlers operating in a non-profit capacity to maintain service continuity. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Majority of the nine airports from where Turkiye's Celbi was banned on Thursday were not affected, thanks to the government rule mandating that airports handling over a crore passengers annually have at least three ground handling agencies (GHA), reported ground handlers managed the work that Celebi was doing. This is an interim measure and airport operators will now issue tenders inviting bids for a third (Mopa) was an exception in this matter as the Turkish company was the only JV. GMR Group has made alternative arrangements for now. The other eight airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Cochin, asked the other GHAs to chip of the leading GHAs in India are Air India Airport Services Ltd (AIASL), Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS), Bird Group's Bird Flight Services (BFS) and Agile Airport Services (of IndiGo).'Air India and IndiGo mostly do their own self-handling through these companies. Other GHAs cater to smaller domestic and international airlines. In Delhi, for instance, non-airline GHAs may be handling 1-1.5 crore passengers annually. This keeps reducing for other airports. When the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) order of Thursday revoked security clearance to Celebi and its associated companies, airport operators reached out to us and asked us to do Celebi's job for some time,' said a leading non-airline GHA, to handover from Celebi was done within 24 hours. 'The over 10,000 employees of Çelebi have been absorbed across interim handlers. About 35-40% of them have joined Bird Group, while the rest have been placed with AISATS and AIASL. There have been no job losses,' said another ground were a few hiccups which were mostly administrative and linked to communicating with people who overnight came onto their rolls. However, GHAs say 'operations have stabilised and there are no reported flight delays or passenger disruption'.'Till a third GHA is appointed, existing handlers will operate in a non profit, support-only capacity to ensure service continuity and regulatory compliance. We are stretched but in national interest will do the job as long as it is required to be done.,' they said.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
No chaos at major airports as other ground handlers step in
A recent government rule impacted operations of Turkiye's Celebi at nine Indian airports. Existing ground handling agencies stepped in to manage the workload. GMR Group made alternate arrangements at Goa's Mopa airport. Over 10,000 Celebi employees were absorbed by other handlers like Bird Group and AISATS. Operations have stabilized with no major disruptions. NEW DELHI: The govt rule mandating that airports handling over a crore passengers annually have at least three ground handling agencies (GHA) meant that flights and passengers at majority of the nine airports from where Turkiye's Celebi was barred on Thursday were not affected. Other ground handlers equally handled their share of the job Celebi was doing. This is an interim arrangement and airport operators will now issue tenders inviting bids for a third GHA. The exceptions included Goa (Mopa), where the Turkish company was the only JV and where the GMR Group has made alternate arrangements for now. The other eight airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Cochin — asked the other GHAs to chip in. Among the leading GHAs in India are Air India Airport Services Ltd (AIASL), Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS), Bird Group's Bird Flight Services (BFS) and Agile Airport Services (of IndiGo). 'Air India and IndiGo mostly do their own self-handling through these companies. Other GHAs cater to smaller domestic and international airlines. In Delhi, for instance, non-airline GHAs may be handling 1-1.5 crore passengers annually. This keeps reducing for other airports. When the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) order of Thursday revoked security clearance to Celebi and its associated companies, airport operators reached out to us and asked us to do Celebi's job for some time,' said a leading non-airline GHA. The handover from Celebe was completed within 24 hours, say people in the know. 'The over 10,000 employees of Çelebi have been absorbed across interim handlers. About 35-40% of them have joined Bird Group, while the rest have been placed with AISATS and AIASL. There have been no job losses,' said another ground handler. Barring a few hiccups — mostly administrative and linked to communicating now with people who overnight came onto their rolls — GHAs say 'operations have stabilised and there are no reported flight delays or passenger disruption'. 'Till a third GHA is appointed, existing handlers will operate in a non profit, support-only capacity to ensure service continuity and regulatory compliance. We are stretched but in national interest will do the job as long as it is required to be done...,' they said.
