Ahmedabad, May 16: Adani Airport Holdings has terminated the ground handling concession agreement with Turkish firm Celebi at Mumbai and Ahmedabad airports with immediate effect.
In a statement, Adani Airports said that after the government’s decision to revoke Celebi’s security clearance, “we have terminated the ground handling concession agreements with Celebi at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA)”.
“Accordingly, Celebi has been directed to immediately hand over to us all ground handling facilities to ensure uninterrupted operations,” said the company. It further stated that the company will continue to provide seamless service to all airlines without disruptions through new ground handling agencies.
“All existing employees of Celebi at CSMIA and SVPIA will be transferred to the new ground handling agencies on their existing terms and conditions of employment. Ground handling operations at our airports will remain unaffected. We are fully committed to upholding the highest standards of service and national interest,” said the spokespersons for Mumbai and Ahmedabad Airports.
The decision to terminate these concession agreements was taken after the Union government revoked the security clearance of the Turkish aviation firm. Earlier, Adani Airport Holdings scrapped its agreement with Turkish company DragonPass to provide the latter’s customers access to its airport lounges. The move comes in the wake of Turkey’s support to Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attacks and ‘Operation Sindoor’ launched by India to avenge the killings of 26 people.
“Our association with DragonPass, which provided access to airport lounges, has been terminated with immediate effect. DragonPass customers will no longer have access to lounges at Adani-managed airports. This change will have no impact on the airport lounge and travel experience for other customers,” the Adani Airport Holdings spokesperson said.
In a notification on Thursday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had said that “in the exercise of power conferred upon DG, BCAS, the security clearance in Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd is hereby revoked with immediate effect in the interest of National Security.”
IANS