Turkey-based Çelebi’s stock price crashes nearly 20% in 2 days; company says will pursue ‘administrative and legal remedies’ to reverse India’s decision | Business News
Turkey-based airport ground handling major Çelebi Aviation Holding’s shares have lost almost 20 per cent value on Thursday and Friday in the wake of India’s decision to revoke the security clearance of the company’s India arms, effectively bringing its India operations to a sudden halt. Meanwhile, the Istanbul-headquartered company told investors that it will “pursue all administrative and legal remedies” to reverse the Indian government’s decision. Underscoring the importance of its India business, the company said that a third of its consolidated revenue in 2024 came from its Indian subsidiaries.
Amid the backlash in India over Turkey’s support for Pakistan in the in the India-Pakistan conflict, India’s aviation security regulator Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on Thursday revoked the security clearance of an Indian arm—Çelebi Airport Services India—of Çelebi on grounds related to “national security” with immediate effect. The revocation also applies to other associate entities of Çelebi in India. Defending itself, Çelebi Airport Services India said that it is “truly an Indian enterprise” led and managed by Indian professionals, and is “not a Turkish organisation by any standard”.
Following the revocation of security clearance by BCAS, the company’s shares tanked 10 per cent on Borsa Istanbul (Istanbul Stock Exchange) on Thursday and closed at 2,224 Turkish Lira (TL). Then on Friday morning, the Çelebi scrip crashed by another 10 per cent to 2,002 TL. Trading had to be suspended more than once as the stock crashed. The scrip had been under pressure for the past few days, given the growing dissatisfaction with Turkey in India for the former’s support for Islamabad in last week’s military conflagration between India and Pakistan.
“Our Company will pursue all administrative and legal remedies to clarify these unfounded allegations and to reverse the imposed orders,” Çelebi said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. On Friday, following the unilateral termination by various Indian airports of their contracts with Çelebi’s India subsidiaries, the company said that it will pursue administrative and legal remedies to seek the annulment of the contract terminations.
“Since the beginning of our operations, our subsidiaries have never engaged in any activity that violates India’s national security interests or relevant legislation. We believe the revocation of security clearances based on unjust and false allegations by administrative authorities is inappropriate,” Çelebi said in regulatory filings. It also said that as the largest foreign investor in India’s ground handling and air cargo sector since 2009, the company has provided employment to over 10,000 Indians and invested over $250 million in the country.
According to Çelebi’s regulatory filings, in its consolidated revenue of around $585 million in 2024, the company’s five Indian arms—Celebi Airport Services India, Celebi GH India, Celebi Nas Airport Services India, Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India, and Celebi GS Chennai cumulatively accounted for a 33.8 per cent share, which comes out to over $195 million. Çelebi operated at nine Indian airports—Mumbai, Delhi, Kochi, Kannur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Goa (Mopa)—and its operations at these airports were distributed among the five subsidiaries, the biggest being Çelebi Airport Services India that was operating at six Indian airports.
The airports and airlines that were working with Çelebi are turning to the other major ground handling players in India’s aviation sector like AI Airport Services, Air India SATS Airport Services, and the Bird group. Ground handling refers to operations that are critical for flights to be prepared and operated. These include passenger handling and check-in, baggage handling, cargo handling and management, aircraft servicing and maintenance, ramp services, and catering.
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In a media statement, Çelebi Airport Services India Thursday said that it is a globally operated aviation services company with no political links or affiliation, and is majority-owned by international institutional investors. The company also termed as “factually incorrect” the allegations about its ownership that have been doing rounds on social media. These include the claim that Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar—daughter of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—is a part owner in Çelebi. The company categorically rejected this claim.
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