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.