Changi cargo volume drops

Changi cargo volume drops

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg): Singapore Changi Airport's cargo volume fell 4.5 percent in the first eight months this year as exports to Asian countries fell amid the region's economic turmoil, an airport official said on Saturday.

Between January and August, the airport handled 837,000 tons of cargo, down from about 876,000 tons a year earlier. An expected decline for the year would be airport's first drop in cargo in more than a decade.

The decline threatens the airport's treasured ranking as No. 4 in the world for international air cargo. This also comes as Singapore Airlines Ltd, the national carrier, projected cargo traffic to fall amid the crisis.

"Imports into the region from Europe or America have seen a slowdown," said Tan Lye Teck, air cargo director at Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. "This is to be expected given the economies of the countries in the region."

For the year, Tan expects the airport's cargo volume to still exceed 1 million tons. Last year, the airport handled 1.3 million tons of air cargo.

To stay ahead, the airport today opened its 300,000-square- foot air freight center with offices and warehouses for cargo companies such as FDX Corp's Federal Express. The complex cost S$73 million (US$45 million). It also cut rents for its tenants by 21 percent since July.

It's also building a new air freight terminal that will increase the airport's cargo handling capacity to 2.5 million from 1.7 million. But Tan said some projects might be shelved for now.

"We're monitoring the situation to see the how the cargo volume moves," Tan said. "There might be some delay but we're not decided."

Singapore Airlines said earlier this month it's delaying the construction of its third hangar by almost two years.