Global GHA Celebi Aviation and India’s Globe Ground will be the two ground handling service providers at Chennai airport’s new integrated terminal building (NITB).

Both were selected based on a global tender, and need to pay the Minimum Annual Guarantee of ₹31 crore each to the Airports Authority of India. This is only for the passenger traffic, while for cargo there are different service providers.

Both the companies are in the process of completing necessary formalities like obtaining Bureau of Civil Aviation Security clearance before commencement of their operations. They are targeting to start their operations at the airport before commissioning of NITB, which is expected to be operational by March, said sources.

Baggage handling

AAI Chennai in a tweet said, “Celebi, one of the two new ground handlers taken on board for the Chennai Airport, is expected to be rolled out along with the operationalisation of a new integrated terminal building. This will ensure quicker and smoother baggage handling, thus promising a seamless passenger experience.”

While the roles are the same for both the service providers, each airline will have the choice of selecting their respective ground handling agent for services like passenger, ramp, load control and flight operation.

Sources said Celebi plans to invest $6-7 million on specialised equipment and infrastructure.

The NITB will more than double the airport’s handling capacity to 35 million passengers per annum from the present 17 million.

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