After Celebi's exit, Adani gears up to enter airport ground handling business: Report 

With Turkish firm Çelebi Airport Services facing a ban, the Adani Group is preparing to enter the airport ground handling business, The Economic Times reported on Tuesday. Arun Bansal, CEO of Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), confirmed the move and said the group will not only handle operations at the eight airports it currently operates but will also bid for fresh contracts at major airports like Delhi, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad.

"We will participate in the tender of Mumbai airport. There is an opportunity at the eight airports currently owned by us but we will also look to provide services to other airports," Bansal told ET on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Annual General Meeting of International Air Transport Association at New Delhi.

The Adani Group, which currently operates eight airports including Mumbai and the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport, has appointed Anurag Srivastava as CEO of its ground handling vertical, according to the report. Srivastava previously led the ground handling division at the Bird Group.

In its new venture, Adani will compete with several established players in the space, including Air India SATS — a joint venture between Air India and Singapore-based SATS—Bird Group, Indothai, and the government-owned AI Airport Services Limited.

The development comes after India's Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) revoked Çelebi’s security clearance on May 15. A letter signed by Joint Director (Operations) Sunil Yadav stated: “The security clearance in r/o Celebi Airport Services India Pvt. Ltd… is hereby revoked with immediate effect in the interest of National Security. This issues with the approval of DG, BCAS.”

Çelebi handled around 70% of ground operations at Mumbai airport and provided services at nine major airports across India, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Cochin, and Chennai. It also managed cargo operations at Delhi airport. The company's security clearance was revoked following a wave of political backlash after Turkey publicly supported Pakistan and criticised India's cross-border strikes on terror camps. 

Çelebi has challenged the revocation in the Delhi High Court. Representing the company, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi recently argued that Çelebi has been operating in India for 17 years without a single blemish. “We are an Indian company. Our employees are Indian,” Rohatgi told the court. "If I had known about the accusation, some solution could have been found. If the problem is that some of the people are from Turkey, I'll replace those people. What more can I say?” he added.