Aerospace Diary

Jane's Airport Review Neelam Mathews 15-Aug-2017 India 's ground-handling market is poised for change. After nine years of uncertainty, in May 2017 the Supreme Court of  India  cleared the way for liberalisation – confirming calls for reform in the 2016 National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP). "The Directorate General of Civil Aviation needs to come out with a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) soon now," ...read more in Janes Airports

by  Neelam Mathews  -  November 13, 2015, 4:11 PM An award to two consortia to design, construct, finance, develop, operate and maintain   FBO s at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport for 20 years and upgrade the present facility in phases is being called a monopolistic move by the general aviation industry. Airport management company Delhi International Airport Ltd. (Dial) would not comment about the award. Following two earlier canceled tenders, Dial and bid advisor InterVistas released the request for proposal ( RFP ) last year that mandated a partnership of Indian companies with foreign providers. Concessionaires Bird Group with ExecuJet and Indamer Co. with Mjets of Thailand won the bid. Others bidders were Air Works with Turkey’s Celebi and Shaurya Aviation with U.S.-Aurora Aviation. However, the very tenets of the bid are being questioned by India’s Business Aviation Operators Association ( BAOA ). R.K Bali,   BAOA ’s managing...

Neelam Mathews Nov 19, 2012 India’s flip flop on its ground handling policy in the past year has hurt bottomlines including Turkey’s  Celebi  Ground Handling that came to India with real high expectations. Aerospace Diary learns results were disappointing  margin wise for the seasonally strongest period of the year. There was no expected recovery in India where the company experienced 5% lower cargo volume, a 35% retreat in the number of aircraft handled and a 19% year-on-year revenue contraction. Improvements in Hungary and Germany were unable to offset the poor recordings in Turkey and India 

Neelam Mathews Jan 5, 2012 A fire that broke out early morning at the Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi cargo terminal operated by Celebi , is under control. No casualties nor damage to cargo was reported. The fire was most likely caused by a burning cigarette butt left by workers, an airport official tells Aerospace Diary. “There is old wooden furniture around, so it is possible the fire started there.” The area has only airline offices.  Celebi staff has been working since the early hours to repair the wiring that was affected to get systems functioning. Ninety percent processing of cargo has started, an official said.

Posted by Neelam Mathews Dec 16, 2011 Turkey's Celebi has acquired 100% of ‘Fraport Ground Services Austria ’ which is one of the two ground handling companies in Vienna International Airport (VIE). Celebi, after investing heavily in India, and is now awaiting a court decision on whether domestic airlines will be permitted to do their own ground handling. The Austrian acquisition is effective from December 7th, 2011  and the name of the new  company is  ‘Celebi Ground Services Austria’, says Athena Kapeni, Global sales and marketing Director. “Through this,   Celebi looks forward in providing additional opportunities in partnerships with our customers and contribute to adding value with its know-how and flexibility on the already highly organized aviation community in Vienna International Airport.,” he adds. Celebi has been operating for over 53 years  and has established a reputation for providing high quality ground handling and cargo services to m...

Asian Airlines Neelam Mathews March 2011 Security issues policy puts limits on ground handling options at India’s Airports A confrontation between India’s Government and airline industry over ground handling that has been ongoing since 2007 might now be drawing to an end after airlines lost a case in the High Court. The airlines were arguing against a government policy that restricted airlines to approved ground handlers only. Many airlines outsource the work to specialist firms. The business is estimated to be worth around US$500million per year. Stressing the issue of security, the Delhi High Court dismissed arguments against the policy in a judgment pronounced on March 4. This resulted in the airlines going to the highest court, the Supreme Court of India, where analysts say, their plea is likely to be rejected in April. Instead of outsourcing manpower, airlines will now have to deploy full-time employees or hire the services of security-cleared ground handling agencies....

Airframers/Suppliers Aviation Daily Feb 02 , 2011 , p. 16 Neelam Mathews With new regulations expected to be introduced soon in India pertaining to its ground-handling infrastructure, Turkish company Celebi Holdings has started investing in standardized equipment at New Delhi and Mumbai airports. Instead of using fuel-inefficient farm tractors, Celebi has introduced electrical baggage tractors costing $60,000 that conform to strict Indian law requiring environmentally friendly equipment. Celebi’s six German Cobum buses in Mumbai and Delhi, costing $20,000 each, carry 110 passengers and can be used only at airports since they have a low step to aid alighting passengers carrying hand baggage. Celebi is also the only ground-handling company at Delhi airport that can handle the Airbus A380, for which it has imported equipment worth about $2 million to move baggage and cargo and push-back equipment, says Can Celebioglu, chairman o...

By Neelam Mathews | IANS  –  45 minutes ago tweet 0 Email Print Istanbul, Jan 30 (IANS) With India's air cargo and passenger traffic growing at a frantic pace and efficiency and security becoming a major concern, a Turkish firm is investing $100 million by 2015 in ground handling and equipment at Delhi and Mumbai airports . Celebi Holdings has already spent $35 million on construction and $12 million towards purchase of equipment and security upgrade at Delhi International Airport Ltd's (DIAL) 70,000-sq mts cargo facility expected to be completed by early next year. In addition it has a holding fee of $25 million deposited with DIAL. 'It is good that India is looking seriously at its cargo infrastructure upgrade. India exports pharmaceuticals, for instance, in a big way. Lack of facilities will hold up growth,' says Canan Celebioglu Tokgoz, vice chairman of the Turkish company. Celebi, a 53-year old entity and one of the top three cargo handlers ...

Aviation Week Daily Jan 27, 2011   By Neelam Mathews ISTANBUL Turkey-based Celebi Holdings believes the development of a cargo terminal at Delhi International Airport, which it started in August 2010, will be completed by September and meet global quality standards. The company has already spent $35 million on construction and $12 million for purchase of new equipment. The company is also bidding for a similar cargo complex in Mumbai expected to be finalized this year. “We believe in three to four years, growth in the economy will lead to cargo growing to one million tons,” says Cemil Erman, president Cargo, Celebi. With Mumbai’s second new airport now announced, Celebi expects to participate in that too. Erman says it is likely that cargo operations will move to the new Greenfield airport in Mumbai once it is ready in three and a half years. Celebi, one of ...

News Aviation Daily Feb 09 , 2010 , p. 13 Neelam Mathews Turkish Celebi Holdings is looking to make an investment in ground-handling after recently being awarded ground-handling contracts for Delhi International Airport Private Ltd . and Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd.. Celebi also has received a contract for cargo-handling services at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The company claims it aims to invest $100 million in the Indian aviation sector by 2010, of which $30 million worth of equipment will be for ground-handling. However, India has held back its ground-handling policy for the past two years, permitting airlines to continue doing their own handling. Indira Gandhi International Airport is India’s biggest in terms of passenger numbers and the second-largest in terms of cargo traffic; 430,000 tons of cargo were handled at the airport in 2008. According to current projections, the total volume of cargo traffic at the airport will reach 1 million tons per ...