Çelebi Holding Reports $500M Loss After India Revokes Security Clearance Following Operation Sindoor

Çelebi Holding, a Turkish aviation ground-handling firm, lost an estimated $400–500 million in value after India abruptly revoked its security clearance on May 15, 2025. The decision came in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, a four-day armed standoff between India and Pakistan that began following a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 25, 2025, which claimed 26 lives. During the conflict, Turkey openly supported Pakistan by supplying over 350 combat drones, including Bayraktar TB2 and Asisguard Songar models, and deploying Turkish military personnel to assist Pakistan's operations. Two Turkish operatives were killed in the conflict.

The revocation had immediate and sweeping consequences for Çelebi's operations in India. The Indian government seized company equipment, terminated contracts across nine major airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, and transferred approximately 10,000 employees to rival operators within a single day. Prior to the shutdown, Çelebi Airport Services India was the country's largest ground-handling operator, managing around 58,000 flights and 540,000 tonnes of cargo annually. Canan Çelebioğlu, Chairperson of Çelebi Holding, described the loss as devastating, noting that the company had meticulously built its presence in India since 2000 and spent years advocating for policy changes to develop the aviation sector.

In response to the revocation, Çelebi filed a petition in the Delhi High Court in July 2025, arguing that it was an independent commercial enterprise with no political connections to the Turkish government or President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's administration, and that India's "national security" justification lacked concrete evidence. The Delhi High Court dismissed the petition and upheld the government's decision, ruling that ground-handling firms operate in highly sensitive positions with access to restricted airside zones, aircraft, and passenger data, and that compelling national security considerations must override commercial interests. Çelebioğlu told Bloomberg that while the monetary loss was significant, the emotional impact was equally severe, as she had considered India her "second country."