Turkish firm Çelebi takes India to court over security clearance revocation

Çelebi, the Türkiye-based operator of ground services in India, has challenged the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the Delhi High Court to overturn the decision of revoking its security clearance, arguing that the “vague” reasoning over national security were given without reasoning, news agency Reuters reported on Friday, citing court documents that have not been made public.

"Mere rhetoric of national security without elaborating upon in what manner is an entity a threat to national security is unsustainable in law," the company said in the filing, arguing that it was not forewarned about the possibility of its security clearance being revoked, and if the decision is not overturned, it would impact 3,791 jobs in India, and would dent investor confidence.

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, 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”.  

Delhi-based aviation services provider Bird Group, Tata Group-owned Air India SATS, and state-run AI Airport Services Ltd (AIASL) have taken over the ground handling responsibilities, which were previously held by Celebi Airport Services, at several airports across the country.

The handover of ground services at airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chennai, Goa (Manohar Airport), Ahmedabad, and Kannur was completed within hours after the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) Thursday revoked Celebi’s security clearance 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. 

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 a 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.