Changi cargo handling up

Changi cargo handling up

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore's Changi Airport last year posted close to a 10 percent annual increase in the volume of air cargo it handled, and is pursuing expansions plans to accommodate future growth, officials said yesterday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said the airport handled 1.105 million tons of air cargo in 1995, up 9.5 percent from the year before.

Wong Woon Liong, Singapore's director-general of civil aviation, said the Changi airfreight center will be expanded from the current 47 to 67 hectares (116 to 165 acres) over the next 20 years.

"This is in line with our philosophy of providing capacity ahead of demand, " he added in the statement.

The CAAS said Changi was voted the "best airport in Asia" for the 10th year running in a poll conducted by an industry publication, Cargonews Asia, based in Hong Kong.

It said the planning and construction of a sixth air freight terminal for the Singapore Airport Terminal Services Pte. Ltd. (SATS), a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines Ltd., was already "in the pipeline."