SINGAPORE: SATS has launched a new air cargo handling facility at Changi Airport, which will serve as a testbed for new systems and processes that may be deployed at the future Terminal 5 and Changi East Industrial Zone.
The Bulk Unitisation Programme (BUP) Handling Centre, officially opened on Tuesday (Aug 5), is the world’s first facility dedicated to such cargo.
BUPs are ready-to-ship cargo packages assembled by freight forwarders or shippers and delivered to SATS to be loaded onto flights. They typically contain multiple items – such as e-commerce packages, boxed items or loose parcels – secured and moved as a single unit.
Goods typically moved in BUPs include electronics and consumer goods, said Mr Kuah Boon Kiam, senior vice-president for cargo services at SATS.
“BUP as a concept is not accepted by all countries due to differing customs requirements,” said Mr Kuah during a media preview. “But in Singapore, we have a custom regulation that allows for this, and because of it, this, as far as we know, is the first facility of this sort.”
STREAMLINED OPERATIONS
The new centre consolidates SATS’ cargo operations, previously spread across two sites, into a single location covering about half the size of a football field at SATS Cargo’s Airfreight Terminal.
Operations moved to the new facility in April, with 20 employees working across three shifts around the clock.