Adani Group will enter the airport ground handling business, Arun Bansal, CEO of Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL), confirmed on Tuesday. The move comes as Turkish firm Celebi Airport Services exits the segment following the cancellation of its security clearance by Indian authorities.
AAHL will set up a new company to bid for ground handling contracts, including those at airports currently owned by the group and others. “We will participate in the tender of Mumbai airport. There is opportunity at the eight airports currently owned by us but we
will also look to provide services to other airports,” Bansal said, speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the International Air Transport Association in New Delhi.
Celebi’s security clearance was revoked by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) after Turkey extended diplomatic support to Pakistan during a recent geopolitical conflict. As a result, major airports including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai terminated contracts with Celebi and brought in temporary replacements.
Ground handling expansion part of broader airport strategy
Ground handling includes passenger services such as check-in, baggage handling, cargo management, aircraft servicing, ramp operations and catering.
Adani Group has appointed Anurag Srivastava, formerly with Bird Group, as the head of its ground handling venture.
The group, which currently owns eight airports including Mumbai and the under-construction Navi Mumbai airport, will face competition from existing players such as Air India SATS (a joint venture between Air India and Singapore’s SATS), Bird Group, Indothai, and government-owned AI Airport Services.
India’s ground handling policy requires major airports—with over one million annual passengers—to have three ground handling agencies. Non-major airports must have two.
According to people familiar with the matter, Adani Group plans to grow its airport business through two channels: by acquiring more airports and by expanding into ancillary services such as maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), ground handling, and duty-free retail. The group acquired MRO firm AirWorks last year.
The company is expected to invest over ₹10,000 crore in the sector in FY26. It also plans to demerge its airport division and take it public within the next three to five years.
