How India turned airport contractor Çelebi into a dead turkey

After fifteen years of profitable operations across India’s busiest airports, Turkish aviation services company, Çelebi Hava Servisi, is facing the most severe turbulence in its corporate history. 

On May 15, 2025, India's aviation regulator, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), revoked the security clearance of Çelebi Airport Services India Pvt. Ltd.—the ground-handling arm of Çelebi—in the “interest of national security”.  

The fallout was swift: Çelebi Hava Servisi shares fell 10% to TRY 2,002 on May 16 on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, capping a five-day slide that wiped out 22.5% of its value. 

At the heart of the storm is the backdrop of escalating geopolitical tensions. India’s recent military strikes under ‘Operation Sindoor’ on terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir drew a sharp response from Turkiye, which not only condemned the action but was also seen backing Pakistan militarily—allegedly through the deployment of Turkish-origin drones. That, coupled with unsubstantiated rumours linking Çelebi’s ownership to Sümeyye Erdoğan, daughter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, created a political storm that has now swept away one of India’s most entrenched foreign aviation operators. 

The political fallout will hurt Çelebi Hava Servisi real hard as it is deeply embedded in India’s aviation ecosystem, operating through three key entities—Çelebi Airport Services India Pvt. Ltd., which includes subsidiaries managing ground-handling operations across multiple metro and non-metro airports; Çelebi Nas Airport Services India Pvt. Ltd., a joint venture established in 2008 that provides ground-handling services at nine critical hubs including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad; and Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt. Ltd., a 74:26 joint venture with Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL), operating the Indira Gandhi International Airport’s cargo terminal under a long-term 25-year concession agreement signed in 2009. DIAL has officially cut ties with Çelebi and is working with alternative handlers such as AISATS and Bird Group to fill the operational void.  

In FY24 alone, Çelebi’s Indian operations clocked a combined revenue of ₹1,522 crore with an operating EBITDA of ₹393 crore, reflecting enviable margins of nearly 26%. Two of the three entities were strongly profitable: Çelebi Delhi Cargo generated ₹711 crore in revenue and a PAT of ₹105 crore, while Çelebi NAS brought in ₹396 crore in revenue and PAT of ₹83 crore. Even the only loss-making unit, Çelebi Airport Services India, had an EBITDA of ₹61 crore—implying that operationally, the business was still cash-positive despite a ₹7.65 crore net loss, possibly due to depreciation or finance costs.

The aggregate PAT of ₹180 crore in FY24 demonstrates that India has become one of Çelebi’s highest-yielding markets globally, especially when compared to its mature and margin-squeezed operations in Europe. With total shareholder funds of ₹726 crore—comprising ₹669 crore in accumulated profits and ₹170 crore in cumulative equity—across its three Indian entities, India was the jewel in Çelebi’s crown. 

In fact, over the past decade, the Indian operations have seen a remarkable growth, with each of its three entities expanding their topline at a robust pace. Çelebi Airport Services India Pvt. Ltd., which manages ground-handling across several airports, grew its revenue from ₹43.66 crore in FY14 to ₹414.61 crore in FY24—delivering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.24%, despite some intermittent years of volatility. Çelebi Nas Airport Services India Pvt. Ltd., which operates in nine major airports including Mumbai and Delhi, posted a CAGR of 12.95%, with revenues rising from ₹117.14 crore in FY14 to ₹396.01 crore in FY24. Meanwhile, Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt. Ltd., which runs the IGIA cargo terminal under a 25-year concession, recorded a steady revenue climb from ₹171.63 crore to ₹711.56 crore over the same period, achieving a CAGR of 15.28%. These figures underline how India became one of Çelebi’s most profitable and fastest-growing markets globally, until geopolitical headwinds brought an abrupt halt to its ascent.  

Adding to the financial squeeze is Çelebi Hava Servisi’s outstanding debt exposure in India. As per its 2023 annual report, the company had a total project finance and working capital loan exposure of ₹183 crore across its three Indian arms. These loans are backed by pledged equity stakes—30% in Çelebi NAS, 28% in Çelebi Delhi Cargo, and shares of Çelebi Airport Services India as well—suggesting both financial and strategic risk in the wake of operational disruption. Whether the same has been unwound in 2024 is not clear, but the risk is clear in the book of Indian banks that have not been named in the annual report. 

While Çelebi has denied any political affiliations or connections to the Erdoğan family, asserting that “we are not a Turkish organisation by any standard” and that the company is majority-owned by international institutional investors like Zeus Aviation (42.06%) and Pantheon, the reality is more complex. Çelebi remains predominantly Turkish in identity and origin, founded in 1958 by the Çelebioğlu family (who still hold nearly 30% of the parent company) and headquartered in Istanbul. Even its holding company, Çelebi Havacılık Holding A.Ş., owns a 5.79% direct stake. 

For Çelebi Hava Servisi, a company that has quietly and profitably built its India business, this may prove to be its most turbulent descent yet.