Paul Antonopoulos@oulosP
🇮🇳🇹🇷 Canan Çelebioğlu, Chairwoman of Çelebi Holding, spoke for the first time about the cancellation of the license of their company operating in India following Operation Sindoor: "I loved India. That's what made it so shocking. It truly devastated us."
Çelebioğlu, a guest on the "İşte Zirve" program on Bloomberg HT, described the events that followed the Indian government's May 15, 2025 decision.
The chairwoman said that the operations in India were terminated by a government decision and that approximately 10,000 employees were transferred to other companies in a single day. She added that the $400-500 million in value created over the years had vanished in an instant.
Among other things she said:
“We entered India and became the largest ground handling company there. I was obsessed with India — I called it my second country.
“Last year, around May 15th, the Indian government shut us down. They seized all our equipment, transferred 10,000 employees to another company in a single day — and wiped out a value we had built of perhaps $400–500 million. Gone in one day.
“Put the financial loss aside. That place was built stitch by stitch. We spent years pushing the government to change policies, to develop the sector.
“And I loved India. That's what made it so shocking. It truly devastated us.”
Çelebi Airport Services India, a subsidiary of Çelebi Holding, had its security permit revoked by the Civil Aviation Security Bureau (BCAS) of India on May 15, 2025, on grounds of "national security".
Following the decision, the company's ground handling and cargo operations at nine airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Goa, Kochi, and Kannur, were suspended. On the same day, the airport operators also terminated their contracts with Çelebi, and the operations were transferred to different companies.
Çelebi Holding, which has been operating in India for approximately 17 years, initiated legal proceedings following the decision. The company argued that the "national security" justification was not supported by concrete evidence. However, the Delhi High Court found the Indian government's decision to revoke the security permit to be lawful.
