Changi expands cargo unit

Changi expands cargo unit

SINGAPORE (AFP): A new airfreight terminal is to be built at Singapore's Changi international airport, boosting its position as Southeast Asia's leading air cargo hub, Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA) said yesterday.

Singapore Airport Terminals Services (SATS), a wholly owned Singapore subsidiary, is developing the terminal, due for completion by late 2000 at a cost of S$300 million (US$183 million), a statement said.

The multi-tiered facility will be the sixth airfreight terminal for Changi.

The cargo volume handled by SATS has grown by an average of 15 percent a year to reach 1.17 million tonnes in 1997, requiring a new terminal to meet expected demand, SIA said.

The new terminal will occupy a land area of 40,000 square meters (430,400 square feet) and have an annual capacity of 800,000 tons of cargo, increasing SATS' annual capacity to more than two million tonnes in all six terminals.