Earlier this year, Istanbul-headquartered ground handler Çelebi Aviation Holding began handling at Cochin Airport in India, the first national market in which it chose to become active outside of Turkey. The handler is now present at a number of India’s busy airports. Athina Kapeni, Çelebi’s vice president sales and marketing, explains the thinking behind the development of its handling footprint in this rapidly burgeoning aviation market, and explains what the future might hold in regards to further expansion there
The latest Indian gateway at which Çelebi is now handling is Cochin. Was this an important addition to your Indian operation?
Çelebi Aviation is focused on the expansion of our operations in multiple airports in India. As part of this strategy, in August 2017 Çelebi was awarded the licence to provide ground handling services at Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL).
Today, Çelebi is already well established as one of the prominent ground and cargo handlers in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad, as well as having launched operations in Cochin with our first customer Air Asia Berhad and Thai AirAsia on 8 January this year. [Thai AirAsia is a joint venture of Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia and Thailand’s Asia Aviation. It serves AirAsia’s scheduled domestic and international flights from Bangkok and other Thai cities.]
Shortly after the commencement of operations at Cochin on 8 January, Çelebi signed another two contracts with prominent customers, and started operations for Indigo and Jazeera Airways.
What is the scale of the Çelebi handling operation at Cochin? In particular, what GSE are you using at the airport to handle your various carrier customers there?
We made a significant investment in GSE to ensure operational readiness to provide services to all types of aviation traffic (freighters, passenger aircraft and business jets) at Cochin.
The entire fleet of GSE required to handle our operations is positioned at the station. Plus, our SAP GSE management system is implemented to control, follow, plan and perform preventive and corrective maintenance on GSE, as well as optimise GSE’s movements and utilisation at the airport. Our GSE positioned at the airport is state-of-the-art technology as per Çelebi’s corporate standards.
How else is Çelebi expanding in India?
Çelebi Ground Handling Delhi Pvt Ltd was recently awarded the contract to provide ground handling services at Kannur International Airport. The airport is not currently operational but Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL) – the managing body of the airport – plans to commence commercial flight operations at the beginning of July 2018. We are in contact and holding discussions with potential customers with a view to starting operations in Kannur; contracts will be signed at a later stage.
Does India represent a key part of the Çelebi network? Is this country going to be a source of further expansion for you?
Çelebi Ground Handling has made significant progress within the last 10 years in India, expanding its business at various airports in the country, as well as developing an executive team with experience for long-term success.
The environment in which we operate is evolving rapidly. Markets around the world are volatile, and the aviation sector is seeing accelerating competitive challenges; however, Çelebi focuses on both short- and long-term developments so as to navigate the challenges and capitalise on the opportunities in a way that provides added value to our partners and customers.
Çelebi currently provides comprehensive ground handling services at Mumbai, Delhi, Cochin and Ahmedabad and cargo/warehouse services in Delhi, being one of the authorised concessionaries awarded contracts by Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL).
Çelebi Ground Handling India serves major airlines, freighter operations, private jets and charter aircraft across India. Apart from the traditional package of ground services that are all available in our portfolio, additional innovative and value-added services are offered, such as Meet & Assist & Kerbside Assistance for our customers’ selected passengers, as well as other services which customise client airlines’ different requirements for passengers and cargo.
With the granting of the International Air Transport Association’s Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) certification, along with many other awards received from international and domestic airlines that we serve, we have a successful record on service excellence and customers’ satisfaction.
The most important strength for us is our employees, having built up an experienced and highly professional team, delivering the best possible training programmes, and establishing a high level of operational oversight and quality control, including safety.
Çelebi has identified India as a large market and one of the strategic markets for expansion and investment. Therefore, we plan to be at more stations in India over the next three to four years. India is the second hub market for Çelebi, after Turkey.
In terms of ground handling, what other plans for expansion elsewhere does Çelebi have?
Çelebi is constantly looking at new expansion opportunities via acquisitions, partnerships, greenfield projects, via tenders for licensing for ground handling and cargo services, as well as by seeking co-operation with major hub airlines.
We aim to create global leverage for our customers by connecting their main hub markets in Turkey and India with a presence in new regions like Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Most notably in the case of India, we are participating in the tender launched for Bangalore Airport, and we plan to participate in other tender processes for all other Indian airports.
How is the ground handling business changing at the moment, and how is Çelebi evolving as a result?
Globalisation, as well as major acquisitions and partnerships with airlines, will gradually change the ground handling business’s major characteristics that we have seen over this last decade.
Airlines now focus more on customisation, quality, innovation and global leverage. Çelebi focuses on all those challenges, looking to benefit from its strength in service excellence, its vast know-how of the handling business and its major asset – its multicultural, well-educated, experienced personnel and management team.
