“There will be a future engagement to announce our next set of investments that will come in for Terminal 5 (T5), which we are in close collaboration with Changi Airport Group as well as with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, in order to get ready and to redesign our operations for the future,” says Low. He adds: “The equipment sets and the investments we are making are really for the current set of airport infrastructure.”
Sats commenced the modernisation of its current ground support fleet on April 1, with the goal of renewing and refurbishing over 500 commercial vehicles and equipment, or about 40% of the Singapore Hub’s current total fleet. An additional number of new units, numbering around 100, will also be added to support growing business volumes.
According to Sats, ground support equipment types that will be upgraded include aircraft tugs used for towing aircraft, hi-lift trucks to assist in servicing aircraft at height, as well as main deck loaders, which handle cargo pallets from the ground to the cargo deck.
Safety enhancements for equipment operators will also be implemented, including proximity sensors for obstacle detection and anti-collision technology to prevent collisions.
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Finally, the modernisation of the fleet via electrification will also be a significant factor in the $150 million improvement, as Sats seeks to grow its current electric fleet from 35% to 55% by FY2030.
“The improvement in electrification capabilities- rather than wait until T5 is ready and we then bring in a whole fleet of electric vehicles, we need to be able to do that now,” says Low.
He adds that the target of increasing the electric GSE fleet by 20% was established with the goal of achieving cost-effectiveness and maintaining a watchful eye on market flexibility.
“We want to make sure that we don’t spend all this money buying generation two or generation three technology, when in three to five years, generation four or five technology comes along. So our approach gives us the flexibility to adjust with regard to our operations,” adds Low.
Meanwhile, Sats’ $100 million enhancement of its cargo operations will be implemented across various air freight terminals. Technical enhancements include the upgrade of the terminals’ material handling system for handling cargo loads and the implementation of a digitalised system, coined by the group as Information Controlled Build-Up (IncCoBu), for advanced planning, monitoring, and control of cargo flows in real time.
On this, Low says: “InCoBu will give us a much clearer picture in terms of how to manage our loads. This will help our workforce as well, because it gives them more time to prepare. In a nutshell, that’s the primary benefit. Our present system works quite well, but with InCoBu, will actually give us better cargo visibility.”
Perhaps the most significant change to cargo operations will be the consolidation of Singapore Airlines’ import, export, and transhipment operations at a single facility in Air Freight Terminal 6, which is Sats’ largest air cargo facility at Changi Airport’s Singapore Hub. Covering an area of some 64,000 sq m, the terminal can currently handle 1,750 tonnes of cargo daily and about 800,000 tonnes annually.
Upon the completion of the group’s cargo operations upgrades come 2027, Sats says these figures will grow to 3,150 tonnes daily and 1.5 million tonnes annually, respectively.
Similarly, Low says the investment will enable Sats to prepare for and adjust accordingly once Terminal 5 is fully operational. “It’s partly in preparation for the Changi East Industrial Zone (CEIZ). There will be a brand new cargo facility available at the same time that comes up, so whatever we’re doing right now is a test fit, basically for what we’re going to do at the new facility in about 10 years or so. So it’s very timely for us to develop this new process.”
“I think this set of investments will ensure that we support the growth of Singapore’s cargo and air passenger volume, leading up to when T5 is ready. And on top of that, these investments will allow us to ‘test-bed’ many of the new technologies and concept operations that we expect to be able to launch and to implement in T5 when passenger loads and cargo loads are expected to increase multifold,” he adds.
