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Straits Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Zoo animals, vaccines and more: Sats powers Paris air cargo hub at Charles de Gaulle
PARIS – Two lions and three golden monkeys passed through an air cargo facility at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on their way to a zoo in central France earlier this year . Besides live animals, the facility also handles other types of specialised cargo, such as pharmaceuticals and perishables like meat and milk. The facility is owned by Sats, the Singapore-listed air cargo handling services provider, and operated by its subsidiary Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), which it acquired in 2023. Following the €1.3 billion (S$1.9 billion) acquisition, Sats became the world's largest air cargo handler. The combined Sats-WFS network operates over 215 stations across 27 countries, covering trade routes that account for more than half of global air cargo volume. Mr Laurent Bernard, vice-president of WFS in France, said on June 3 that the country handled 1.3 million tonnes of cargo in 2024, with 70 per cent coming from Charles de Gaulle Airport. On June 4, the media toured the Paris cargo facility for the first time. Mr Bernard said Sats' acquisition has helped WFS expand its network, giving it a long-term vision and ability to invest in its business. Previously, WFS was 'very Europe-centric', he said. The company also saw growth in the US, but it lacked a significant footprint in Asia . World Flight Services staff loading a cargo crate onto an aircraft at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on May 4. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI With the acquisition, its reach is now truly global, strengthening its position to negotiate better deals with clients. 'When they are (negotiating) with us, they want a global deal. We can provide them the full package, and many stations (around the world), which is quite important,' Mr Bernard said. WFS was previously owned by a private equity firm whose focus was on 'making quick money in a short time', he said. Sats' acquisition has enabled the company to make investments in its business with a long-term perspective. For example, it is building a 20,000 sq m cargo facility in Lyon – about 460km south of Paris – that will include 7,000 sq m of temperature-controlled space. The building is expected to be ready by mid-2026. WFS has 120,000 sq m of warehouse space at Charles de Gaulle Airport , with roughly 20 per cent of this space dedicated to specialised cargo, Mr Bernard said. General cargo, which is still the company's main business, makes up the rest. Mr Laurent Bernard, vice-president of WFS in France, said Sats' acquisition has helped WFS expand its network, giving it a long-term vision and ability to invest in its business. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI Outside Paris, WFS operates at 11 provincial airports across France, including those in Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, and Strasbourg. The media toured warehouses dedicated to three types of specialised cargo: e-commerce cargo , pharmaceuticals and shipments managed through freight forwarding. The e-commerce cargo is housed in a 5,000 sq m warehouse located less than 100m from the airside. This allows for fast and efficient cargo transfer, meeting the quick turnaround demands of airlines and freight forwarders aiming to make timely deliveries. E-commerce cargo is housed in a 5,000 sq m warehouse located less than 100m from the airside. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI It takes about an hour to unload a full plane, and after checks on-site, the cargo is picked up as soon as two hours later. Most of the cargo arriving at the e-commerce warehouse is from China. The 2,400 sq m pharmaceutical warehouse is temperature-controlled, with one part of the site kept at 15 to 25 deg C and a smaller section at two to eight deg C. The warehouse handles vaccines, insulin and medical devices that have to be kept at a certain temperature. Workers loading pharmaceutical cargo onto a van at the World Flight Services cargo facility at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The facility is temperature-controlled, and handles shipments of vaccines and other medicines that are temperature-sensitive. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI Another specialised cargo service is freight forwarding, or the coordination and organisation of the movement of shipments on behalf of a shipper. Freight forwarding companies that do not have their own warehouses – usually smaller players – rent space at the WFS facility to consolidate shipments before moving them to the final destinations. This is more economical than leasing their own spaces when cargo volume is low. The World Flight Services freight forwarding warehouse at Charles de Gaulle airport. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI Besides their warehouse operations at Charles de Gaulle airport, WFS also runs an academy there to train workers in handling specialised cargo. In 2025, the centre aims to train 16,000 people in areas such as the handling of live animals, pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods like flammable liquids or materials, and perishable goods like meat and milk. Mr Bernard said Paris has the capacity to continue accepting passengers, and that it is 'crucial to have cargo linked to the (passenger) routes'. Having cargo on board a passenger plane could contribute 30 per cent of a route's profitability, he added. 'It's quite important – in parallel with passenger development – to continue to grow from the cargo side.' Meanwhile, Sats announced on June 3 three new product offerings designed to strengthen global air logistics resilience, in partnership with global transport and logistics company Kuehne + Nagel. One of the services is the expedited delivery of aircraft parts to Changi Airport during Aircraft-on-Ground (AOG) emergencies, where planes are grounded due to technical or mechanical issues. Sats said the solution leverages technology to track the response during an AOG emergency. This allows ground teams to anticipate the arrival of the spare parts and to prepare for repairs, enabling a quicker return to service. 'These disruptions can result in significant operational and financial impacts, making quick access to spare parts a high priority for the aviation industry,' said Sats and Kuehne + Nagel. The two partners also launched sea-air freight services at Sats' Los Angeles and Singapore hubs. This allows customers to transfer sea cargo onto air transport in the last leg of the journey, which could mitigate disruptions to customers' supply chains. To improve trucking and warehouse efficiency at Frankfurt Airport, the two partners have accelerated import cargo clearance there. This streamlining has reduced delays, allowing faster cargo pick-up and delivery by truck. Vanessa Paige Chelvan is a correspondent at The Straits Times. She writes about all things transport and pens the occasional commentary. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Sats ‘confident' in navigating tariff situation, says chief executive Kerry Mok
– Sats, the Singapore-listed air cargo handling services provider, is confident in facing any disruptions of the global trade war being waged by the US, Mr Kerry Mok, the company's president and chief executive, said on June 3. Speaking to The Straits Times on the sidelines of the Air Cargo Europe trade show, Mr Mok said he views the tariff situation as 'another macroeconomic challenge that we have to handle' that is similar to navigating the pandemic. Air Cargo Europe is being held in Munich until June 5. Sats is the world's largest air cargo handler, following its acquisition of Paris-based global air cargo logistics provider Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in 2023 at a cost of €1.3 billion (S$1.8 billion). Its global footprint includes 215 cargo and ground handling stations in 27 countries, covering trade routes responsible for more than 50 per cent of global air cargo volume. Mr Mok said his confidence stems from 'the playbook that we have developed through Covid, (which) has served us well'. So far, air cargo volumes have not been affected by hefty tariff increases, possibly because of front-loading by businesses to get their goods off the ground during the 90-day reprieve, he said. On May 12, China and the US agreed to lower reciprocal tariffs to 10 per cent for 90 days while they commit to trade talks. While it is uncertain what will happen after the 90 days, Mr Mok said he expects that Sats, as a global company, will be able to weather the storm. A part of the business that is not doing well could be propped up by other parts of the business that are unaffected, he said. 'In a networked environment, if US volumes drop, Europe's volume increases, Asia volumes may increase,' he said. Because Sats has a global network, it may in fact benefit from a rise in volumes elsewhere, he added. Total demand for air cargo rose by 5.8 per cent in April 2025, compared to April 2024 levels, according to data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) . Its director-general also said the outlook for air cargo is encouraging, though 'stresses in world trade are no secret'. One of the lessons to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic is that air cargo was 'a shining spot' for many airlines and companies, said Mr Mok. When Sats was looking to expand, 'we identified cargo as a segment for expansion, because cargo is global ... and our customers operate in a global environment'. Sats offers airport services like airfreight handling, passenger services, and ground handling. It is also a major airline caterer and provider of food solutions to other institutions. 'We can't just stay big in Singapore and then be happy with that,' he said. Mr Mok said the WFS acquisition made sense because 'we are the leader in Asia Pacific, and they are market leaders in the US, the Americas and in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) , and we have very little overlap'. Nonetheless , Mr Mok said, the acquisition was not without its naysayers. 'People said there's no chance… that Singapore companies always fail when they go overseas,' he said. But Sats took a long-term view, rather than focus on short-term profits and liabilities. 'That's not how we run the business,' he said. 'I think people are now starting to understand that it's working financially. We're now back on track,' he said. In May, Sats reported a net profit of $38.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, gaining 18.3 per cent from $32.7 million in the corresponding year-ago period. Revenue for the fourth quarter was $1.5 billion, up 10.4 per cent year-on-year from $1.3 billion. This was driven by continued business volume growth and rate improvements, said Sats in a media release in May. On a full-year basis, the group reported profit of $243.8 million, soaring more than four times from $56.4 million a year ago. Revenue came in at $5.8 billion, gaining 13 per cent from $5.1 billion a year ago. Terminal 5 Turning to Terminal 5, Mr Mok said Sats will 'play a big part in the design of T5', particularly in the area of technology. In May, Sats announced that it would be investing over $250 million to upgrade its ground operations and cargo handling infrastructure at Changi Airport ahead of the opening of T5 in the mid-2030s. An expansion project more than a decade in the making, T5 will position Changi Airport to ride a predicted surge in air travel within the Asia-Pacific and beyond. Designed to handle about 50 million passengers a year, T5 will effectively double the size of Changi Airport and boost its current capacity of 90 million by more than 55 per cent. The Changi East development, where T5 is located, will also house the Changi East Industrial Zone, which will almost double the airport's annual cargo handling capacity from three million tonnes to 5.4 million tonnes. Mr Mok said the investment would refresh Sats' operations and bring in new equipment, with the goal of driving up productivity. 'We've got to find new technologies, new ways that will allow us to be efficient in driving the growth of T5,' he said. The solutions will not be those that exist today, he promised, noting that Sats can tap global network and the trials it has going on around the world. For example, a WFS cargo facility in Barcelona is testing automatic guided vehicles as part of an initiative to incorporate automation and improve efficiency, safety and productivity. 'It's important that T5 succeeds, and we want to play a big role in making that work for Changi,' Mr Mok said. Vanessa Paige Chelvan is a correspondent at The Straits Times. She writes about all things transport and pens the occasional commentary. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3D Cityplanner Unveils AI-Driven Urban Planning Software to Enhance Smart City Development
Strategis Groep, a leading Dutch technology firm, introduces the 3D Cityplanner, an AI-powered urban planning platform that allows professionals to design, visualize, and simulate city layouts entirely in the browser, enabling faster, more sustainable urban development. Amersfoort, The Netherlands--(Newsfile Corp. - May 23, 2025) - Strategis Groep, a forward-thinking technology company, has officially launched the latest iteration of its 3D Cityplanner platform - an innovative urban planning software solution that leverages AI to help cities design smarter, more sustainable, and efficient urban environments. The cloud-based platform, which requires no installation, enables urban planners, governments, and developers to create detailed 3D city models, assess infrastructure, and simulate complex planning scenarios all in real-time. 3D Cityplanner Unveils AI-Driven Urban Planning Software to Enhance Smart City Development To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: The new version of the 3D Cityplanner introduces AI-powered design tools, advanced 3D visualizations, and seamless integration with geospatial data to provide a comprehensive planning experience. The platform helps users evaluate urban spaces from multiple perspectives, including sustainability, environmental impact, and public welfare. "Our mission is to streamline urban planning by making it more intuitive, transparent, and responsive to the challenges of modern cities," says Anne Dullemond, CEO of Strategis Groep. "With 3D Cityplanner, urban planners now have a cutting-edge tool at their disposal that runs entirely in the browser, making it easier to design, simulate, and refine complex city plans in real-time." Key Innovations in the 3D Cityplanner: AI-Driven Building and District Generator: The tool automatically generates optimized urban layouts, integrating elements like roads, public green space, solar-ready rooftops, and flexible parking solutions, making it ideal for speeding up the early stages of urban projects. Line-of-Sight and Environmental Impact Tools: Users can evaluate the visibility of key areas, sunlight access, and the distribution of greenery using realistic 3D simulations, which are vital for urban livability and health. Fully Browser-Based Design Platform: Unlike traditional CAD or GIS software, 3D Cityplanner operates entirely in the cloud. Users can easily draw, modify, and visualize urban environments from any device with an internet connection. GIS and BIM Data Integration: The platform supports various data formats, including WMS, WFS, CityGML, and BIM models like IFC, offering robust geospatial planning capabilities that professionals can rely on for complex projects. Live Urban Simulation: The platform can simulate various urban factors such as hydrology, infrastructure, and climate resilience, enabling urban designers to test and validate different scenarios efficiently. A Global Solution for Urban Development Although originally developed in the Netherlands, the 3D Cityplanner has expanded its reach with pilot projects in Europe, North America, and the Middle East. It stands as a modern alternative to outdated planning tools, offering a collaborative space where policymakers, engineers, planners, and the public can engage in the planning process together. The platform serves a range of urban planning needs from master planning and urban redevelopment to public consultations, helping governments and developers achieve their sustainability goals while optimizing land use. Shaping the Future of Urban Planning The 3D Cityplanner platform is poised to play a major role in the evolution of smart city design. Its innovative features and integration with AI make it a valuable tool for cities seeking to address the pressing demands of climate adaptation, infrastructure efficiency, and overall urban livability. "3D Cityplanner allows us to move forward in our mission of creating smarter, more sustainable cities," says Dullemond. "By providing an accessible, real-time platform for urban planning, we're empowering cities to make data-informed decisions that will shape the future." About Strategis Groep Strategis Groep is a technology and consulting firm based in the Netherlands, specializing in digital tools for urban development. The company partners with governments, architects, engineers, and developers across Europe to help reshape urban spaces using innovative technologies like GIS, BIM, and AI. The 3D Cityplanner is Strategis Groep's flagship platform for sustainable, data-driven city design. For more information, visit: Contact Info:Name: Anne DullemondEmail: anne@ Strategis GroepWebsite: To view the source version of this press release, please visit Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Black Diamond Group Limited Announces Approval of All Resolutions at 2025 Annual Meeting
CALGARY, Alberta, May 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Black Diamond Group Limited ('Black Diamond') (TSX: BDI, OTCQX:BDIMF) announced the voting results from its annual meeting of shareholders held on May 13, 2025 (the 'Meeting'). A total of 40,799,217 common shares, representing approximately 65.64% of Black Diamond's issued and outstanding common shares, were represented in person or by proxy at the Meeting. The following nominees were elected as directors of Black Diamond for the ensuing year, with the specific voting results being as follows: Nominee Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld Trevor Haynes 38,951,337 96.884 1,252,954 3.116 Brian Hedges 39,341,354 97.854 862,937 2.146 Robert J. Herdman 38,328,604 95.335 1,875,687 4.665 Barbara J. Kelley 37,526,211 93.339 2,678,080 6.661 Edward H. Kernaghan 38,948,715 96.877 1,255,576 3.123 Leilani Latimer 39,522,538 98.304 681,753 1.696 Steven Stein 38,140,070 94.866 2,064,221 5.134 Robert Wagemakers 38,146,069 94.881 2,058,222 5.119 In addition, the other resolution presented at the Meeting, the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, as auditors, was approved. Detailed voting results for all resolutions will be posted under Black Diamond's profile at About Black Diamond Black Diamond is a specialty rentals and industrial services company with two operating business units - Modular Space Solutions (MSS) and Workforce Solutions (WFS). We operate in Canada, the United States, and Australia. MSS through its principal brands, BOXX Modular, CLM, MPA Systems and Schiavi, owns a large rental fleet of modular buildings of various types and sizes. Its network of local branches rent, sell, service, and provide ancillary products and services to a diverse customer base in the construction, industrial, education, financial, and government sectors. WFS, through its principal brands owns a large rental fleet of modular accommodation assets of various types. Its regional operating terminals rent, sell, service, and provide ancillary products and services including turnkey operated camps to a wide array of customers in the resource, infrastructure, construction, disaster recovery, and education sectors. In addition, WFS includes LodgeLink, which operates a digital marketplace for business-to-business crew accommodation, travel, and logistics in North America. The LodgeLink proprietary digital platform enables customers to efficiently find, book, and manage their crew travel and accommodation needs through a rapidly growing network of hotel, remote lodge, and travel partners. LodgeLink exists to solve the unique challenges associated with crew travel and applies technology to eliminate inefficiencies at every step of the crew travel process from booking, to management, to payments, to cost reporting. Learn more at Investor and Media Inquiries Emma Covenden at 403-888-1666 or investor@ To sign up for news alerts please go to in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Times
06-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Sats names first chief digital officer to lead global digitalisation initiatives
[SINGAPORE] Catering and ground handling company Sats on Tuesday (May 6) announced the appointment of Sandeep Sakharkar as chief digital officer, a newly created role. The appointment, which took effect on Mar 17, sees Sakharkar leading the development and execution of Sats' digital strategy, focusing on integrating advanced data analytics, automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and operational improvements across the company's global operations. The announcement comes after Timothy Tang's designation as group chief financial officer on Apr 24, as part of Sats' leadership renewal process. Sakharkar became chief digital officer at a time the company is advancing to the next stage of its digital transformation, following its acquisition of global air cargo logistics provider Worldwide Flight Services (WFS). Sats completed the 1.3 billion euro (S$1.9 billion) acquisition in April 2023, which helped the Singapore company expand its global operations. Last month, WFS opened a US$270 million cargo terminal at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, the United States. Sats is looking to set new industry standards and create smarter, more agile service solutions. It emphasised that its focus will be on 'leveraging technology to enhance transparency, optimise supply chain performance, and elevate the end-to-end customer experience'. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Sakharkar brings to the role more than 25 years of experience in technology-driven transformation, most recently as global chief information officer at GXO Logistics. He has also held senior positions at Johnson & Johnson and Footlocker. In addition, he is the founder of Datanoetic, an early-stage data, AI and process automation startup, where he remains non-executive chairman. 'Together with our talented global teams, we will scale digital capabilities, harness the power of modern digital, data and AI capabilities, and ensure our customers receive the highest levels of reliability, speed and service,' Sakharkar said. Shares of Sats closed S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent lower at S$2.89 on Tuesday, before the news.
