Adani Group Ramps Up Aviation Sector Play After Celebi Exit, to Enter Airport Ground Handling Biz

Billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Group is mulling to enter the airport ground handling services business to diversify its aviation sector bid. Adani Group’s airport arm, Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL), is “evaluating” bids for ground handling services for two of the airports operated by it, including Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Bloomberg reported. The development comes at a time when Turkey’s Celebi Aviation’s operations at Indian airports have been halted after the Narendra Modi-led government revoked its security clearance license, citing national security-related issues. 

Apart from this, AAHL has raised $750 million through external commercial borrowings (ECB) to refinance existing debt, invest funds in infrastructure upgrades and capacity expansion. It will also use the proceeds towards scaling its non-aeronautical businesses, including retail, food & beverages, duty free and other services across the airport venture, the company said in a statement on exchange filing.

Also Read: Adani Group to Boost Airport Retail Biz Presence to Drive Non-Aero Revenue

The Adani Group’s potential debut aligns with its business plan to expand in the aviation industry and bet on non-aeronautical sources of revenue. The power-to-port conglomerate is eyeing to expand its airport and highway retail business in a phased manner, the Economic Times had earlier reported. The conglomerate is targeting to increase retail store strength from 50 stores this year to nearly 310 in 2026. 

“Our aim in the domestic side is to take over the entire airport business and run the entire retail operations ourselves over a period of time as the concession gets over for existing players,” Chief Executive of Adani Airport and Ospree, Gaurav Singh, had earlier told the Economic Times. 

Adani Group is pinning its hope on the airport business at a time when the overall aviation sector in India is booming. The Indian aviation market is set to grow at a 12.03% CAGR from $14.78 billion in 2025 to $26.08 billion in 2030, according to a Mordor Intelligence report. 

The government has planned to add 43 new airports this year and around 200 more are in the pipeline for the next two decades. AAHL currently operates eight airports, including seven operational ones—Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai International Airport. The Navi Mumbai airport, which is set to be launched this month, will be the eighth one.