UPS expands hub at Changi Airport, nearly doubling capacity

Singapore Changi Airport has seen some changes this month, including a UPS expansion that has nearly doubled the number of UPS packages processed daily and completion of Phase 1 of an autonomous dollies trial. UPS has increased the size of its Singapore Change Airport (SIN) operations hub by 25%, which it said allows the company to process 40% more import packages and to speed up delivery times to nearly 5,000 postal codes across Singapore. Export processing capacity has been boosted by 45%, allowing an extra hour to accept shipments each day. While UPS did not disclose how much the expansion cost, a spokesperson told Air Cargo Next that it ran “into the multimillions of U.S. dollars.” “Due in part to the impact and ongoing legacy of the pandemic, we’ve seen a significant increase in demand for e-commerce and complex health care shipments in recent years, a trend we expect to continue for some time,” Chika Imakita, managing director of UPS Singapore, said in a statement sent to Air Cargo Next . Keeping cool [caption id="attachment_57134735" align="alignright" width="300"] UPS’ expanded hub at Changi Airport features refrigerators and freezers that can maintain temperatures between -20 and 25 degrees Celsius. (Photo/UPS)[/caption] The hub features refrigerators and freezers that can maintain temperatures between -20 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees Celsius for temporary storage. UPS Premier, the company’s shipping service for “time-sensitive, temperature-sensitive and patient-critical” products, launched in Singapore late last year. “As we saw from our delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, critical health care deliveries often need to be kept in very precise conditions, not just while they’re being transported but also while they’re waiting to be transported — for the patient at the end of the delivery, this can literally be the difference between life and death,” Imakita said. Autonomous dollies address labor shortage Facing workforce shortages felt across the aviation industry, SIN has been testing autonomous solutions . [caption id="attachment_57134733" align="alignright" width="300"] The Auto-Dolly travels autonomously along a road. (Photo/Changi Airport)[/caption] SIN has entered Phase 2 of an autonomous dolly trial, which tests the safety and efficacy of the Auto-Dolly and Auto-DollyTug at the aircraft stand. SIN’s Terminal 5 Specialized Systems (T5SS) team has implemented a trial to automate the driving of baggage tractors, according to SIN’s press team. The trial, which has been ongoing for more than a year, is partially funded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore through its Aviation Development Fund. Working with Aurrigo , a U.K.-based provider of airport transport technology, the T5SS team is testing the Auto-Dolly, an autonomous individual baggage trailer, as well as the Auto-DollyTug, a tug variant designed to tow three additional trailers. [caption id="attachment_57134734" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Auto-DollyTug unloads a unit load device directly onto a Skyloader at the aircraft stand at Singapore Changi Airport. (Photo/Changi Airport)[/caption] The Auto-Dolly can be electronically tagged with one or more units so they can work together as a group, according to Aurrigo. The recently completed Phase 1 trial demonstrated the Auto-Dolly’s ability to travel autonomously along airside roadways as well as within the baggage handling area, according to SIN. The team has now embarked on Phase 2 of the trial to test the safe operations of the Auto-Dolly at the aircraft stand. Due to its small footprint and tight turning radius, the Auto-Dolly can is designed to precisely maneuver itself next to an aircraft as well as transfer a unit load device directly to or from SIN’s Skyloader equipment, resulting in more workforce efficiencies, according to SIN. For now, a safety operator is deployed on the Auto-Dolly and Auto-DollyTug in case of emergency. The next step is to test the autonomous vehicles without a safety operator onboard.

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