Despite a lacklustre performance in the first half of the year, Singapore's Changi Airport said that cargo throughput in 2016 increased by 6.3% to a new high of 1.97 million tonnes, which was fuelled by strong growth in the second half of the year. For the month of December, the airport registered a throughput of 177,360 tonnes, an increase of 8.4%.
Growth in airfreight throughput was recorded across imports, exports and transshipments. Perishables and pharmaceuticals were segments that performed well, contributing a significant portion of
Changi’s total cargo throughput. The top five country markets for airfreight were China, Australia, Hong Kong, the U.S. and India.
Changi Airport said that in order to strengthen its pharmaceutical cargo handling capabilities, it had formed a community of cargo partners to undergo the attainment of International Air
Transport Association’s (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators on Pharmaceutical Handling (CEIV Pharma) certification. The pioneer group of companies consists of Singapore
Airlines Cargo, dnata Singapore, Global Airfreight International, Expeditors Singapore, CEVA Logistics Singapore, and Schenker Singapore.
Signals are set at green for further growth
Beyond the establishment of a CEIV Phama certified community, Changi Airport Group also joined Pharma.Aero, an organisation focused on achieving reliable end-to-end air transportation for
pharmaceutical cargo.
In October 2016, the DHL Express South Asia Hub, a 24-hour express hub facility located within Changi Airfreight Centre, was officially opened. This has tripled DHL Express’ cargo handling
facility in Singapore and allows shipments to be processed six times faster. Together with SATS’ upcoming eCommerce AirHub, expected to open later this year, these developments will boost
Changi’s position as a leading air cargo hub in Asia.
Nol van Fenema
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