. this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message sats ltd. type public sgx s58 industry ground handling airline catering services airport security predecessor singapore airport terminal services limited founded 1972 headquarters singapore key people edmund cheng chairman alex hungate president and ceo 1 website sats homepage sats ltd. commonly abbreviated as sats simplified chinese is the chief ground handling and in flight catering service provider at singapore changi airport . sats controls about 80 % of changi airport s ground handling and catering business . sats provides gateway services and food solutions in asia . sats food solutions business comprises airline catering food distribution and logistics industrial catering as well as chilled and frozen food manufacturing besides linen and laundry services . its gateway services span airfreight baggage and ramp handling passenger services aviation security cargo warehousing perishables handling to cruise handling and terminal management . sats subsidiaries includes sats airport services sats catering sats security services aero laundry & linen services aerolog express country foods pte ltd. and singapore food industries . contents 1 history 1.1 origin 1.2 early history 1.3 1992 2009 1.3.1 1st re branding exercise 1.4 2010 present 1.4.1 2nd re branding exercise 2 gateway services 2.1 sats security services 2.2 sats hk 2.3 asia pacific star 2.4 affinity membership 2.5 coolport changi 3 food solutions 3.1 tajsats air catering ltd 3.2 country foods 3.3 jewels artisan chocolate 3.4 singapore food industries 4 service culture 5 recognition 6 references 7 external links history edit origin edit the history of sats can be traced back to the very beginning of commercial aviation in singapore . in the early years ground handling services were provided by a department of malayan airways which became malaysia singapore airlines msa in 1967 . five years later msa ceased operations and paved the way for two new entities singapore airlines sia and malaysian airline system mas . as sia concentrated on its core business of running an airline the establishment of sats as a separate yet wholly owned subsidiary company evolved naturally . on 15 december 1972 sats was formally corporatised with 1 673 staff . by the end of the first year staff numbers rose to 2 000 while gross revenue increased by 25 per cent . early history edit in 1977 sats opened an airfreight terminal at paya lebar airport capable of handling 160 000 tonnes of cargo a year . four years later in 1980 sats made the move to singapore s new changi airport after investing s 147 million in a new headquarters building a new inflight catering centre which at that time was the largest single building inflight kitchen in the world and two new airfreight terminals . by the mid 1980s sats was able to handle about 20 000 passengers a day at changi airport a 60 per cent increase over the 12 700 passengers handled daily at paya lebar airport in 1980 . cargo also registered double digit growth rates . in 1985 sats was restructured into four companies so that it could better manage demand for its services . singapore airport terminal services became the parent company and subsidiaries were formed out of the four operating divisions apron services cargo services passenger services and catering . in 1989 sats added two new airfreight terminals and invested in new passenger handling equipment for changi airport s terminal 2 . this increased its passenger handling capacity to more than 20 million passengers a year . 1992 2009 edit in 1992 three companies within sats apron cargo and passenger services were merged to form a new company sats airport services sas . this consolidation was designed to improve co ordination and communication and strengthen the sats group s competitiveness . over the next four years an express courier centre capable of handling 40 000 tonnes of cargo a year was opened along with the s 215 million airfreight terminal 5 the s 172 million inflight catering centre 2 and a s 40 million sats maintenance centre . at the end of the 1999 2000 financial year sats owned and operated five airfreight terminals with a combined handling capacity of 1.3 million tonnes of cargo a year and two catering centres capable of producing 27 million meals a year . since the move to changi in 1981 sats has invested more than s 1 billion in state of the art facilities . a second express courier centre for partner dhl worldwide express costing s 30 million was completed in december 2001 . in the first quarter of 2001 a sixth airfreight terminal costing s 270 million with a handling capacity of 800 000 tonnes of cargo per annum commenced operations . 2003 saw the launch of sats web based system cargonet to further complement its cargo tracking service . it also upgraded the materials handling system in airfreight terminals 1 to 4 to improve cargo handling efficiency and equipment serviceability . in july 2005 sats launched a range of new products and service upgrades . on 2 january 2008 sats sold the express courier centre two ecc2 to dhl express . 2 1st re branding exercise edit sats underwent a re branding exercise in apr 2007 adopting a completely new brand identity after bearing the sia bird logo for many decades . 2010 present edit on dec 2010 sats ltd completed the acquisition of japan airlines international s entire stake of 50.7 per cent in tfk corporation . the 7.8 billion yen s 122 million purchase was fully satisfied in cash and funded through debt through its wholly owned subsidiary sats investments pte ltd sipl . following the completion sipl now owns 504 195 shares in tfk and has voting rights of 53.8 per cent . on 25 october 2011 sats announced that it will be selling daniels group to hain celestial group . 3 on 23 december 2011 the sats creuers consortium a joint venture between sats ltd. sats and creuers del port de barcelona s.a. creuers won the bid to manage the new marina bay cruise centre singapore . sats creuers beat out competition from the singapore cruise centre scc the incumbent cruise port operator in singapore which operates the existing facilities at harbourfront and jurong port . 4 2nd re branding exercise edit sats used to be part of the singapore airlines group and was divested from sia on 1 sep 2009 . 5 on 08 jan 2010 it unveiled a new uniform for its front line staff at the singapore changi airport . the uniform change is sats eleventh since 1973 . the company also changed its name from singapore airport terminal services limited simplified chinese to sats ltd. simplified chinese on 30 july 2010 . on 7 jun 2011 sats unveiled a new brand identity . the new monolithic brand identity flows with its global aspiration and commitment to customers with a red background symbolising warmth with customer relations . the group was initially engaged in ground handling and airline catering in singapore . it has since transformed itself into asia s largest gateway services and aviation food solutions network and has operations at 35 airports in 10 countries . sats hopes that the new brand identity can help to raise its service standards and adding value to its partners . gateway services edit sats gateway services encompass passenger services ramp and baggage handling cargo handling aviation security aircraft interior cleaning and cargo delivery and management . sats runs ground handling and airline catering operations at nearly 44 airports across asia pacific and the middle east . besides its operations in singapore sats has also established a network in asia through joint ventures in china hong kong macau india the philippines indonesia taiwan vietnam and the maldives . sats security services edit main article sats security services sats security services provides security services for aviation related activities at the singapore changi airport . sats hk edit sats acquired 100 % of menzies aviation hong kong ltd mahk for approximately hk 18 million approximately s 3.3 million on 11 november 2008 . following the acquisition it was renamed as sats hk limited on 7 april 2009 . sats hk is one of the four ground handling agents at the hong kong international airport hkia . it is also one of the four licensed ramp handlers at hkia . sats hk provides passenger and ramp handling services including baggage handling load control and flight operations to 11 airlines . amongst its key customers are federal express air canada orient thai and asiana airlines . 6 asia pacific star edit in march 2009 sats launched a low cost ground handling services under a new wholly owned subsidiary asia pacific star . together with the low cost inflight catering unit sats serves the growing low cost segment of the airline market . affinity membership edit the affinity membership by singapore airport terminal services ltd sats offers passenger preferential check in services at their specially designated affinity check in counters and the use of sats premier club lounges available in all terminals of singapore changi airport as well as the lifestyle rainforest lounge in terminal 1 regardless of the class of travel . coolport changi edit on 18 august 2009 sats announced its plans to launch coolport changi singapore s first on airport perishables handling centre in mid 2010 . costing approximately s 16 million to build coolport changi will be the first dedicated on airport facility in singapore for handling terminal and transit perishables cargo within the free trade zone . located within sats airfreight terminal 2 coolport changi will have an annual operating capacity of around 250 000 tonnes with scope for expansion from the current 8 000 square metres to 14 000 square metres . coolport changi will be the first facility in singapore comprising three multi tiered zones with different temperatures ranging from 28c to 18c . it will be able to handle a range of perishables cargo such as live seafood and ornamental fish fresh produce meats flowers and pharmaceutical products including vaccines . services include warehousing and distribution live tanking inventory management & control and ripening facilities . coolport changi will be designed in accordance with internationally recognised hazard analysis and critical control points haccp guidelines for food safety and in compliance with the highest international standards of cold chain integrity . it also aims to be the first halal certified air cargo hub for perishables in asia pacific . citation needed food solutions edit sats food solutions comprises in flight catering food logistics industrial catering as well as chilled and frozen food manufacturing and airline linen and laundry . tajsats air catering ltd edit on 25 september 2001 sats set up a joint venture with taj hotels resorts and palaces part of the tata group to provide in flight catering as well as management of airport lounges in india . 7 8 country foods edit on 24 july 2008 sats acquired all remaining shares from the minority shareholders of country foods pte ltd country foods . on completion of the sale and purchase country foods became a wholly owned subsidiary of sats . country foods is in the business of manufacturing and supplying of chilled and frozen processed foods and ready to eat meals to fast food restaurants and caf chains convenience stores as well as other food establishments and institutions . besides the singapore operations the company also owns a 70 percent stake in a joint venture company in macau called country foods macau limited country foods macau which supplies to casino resort and restaurant operators . jewels artisan chocolate edit on 19 december 2009 despite the slow economic recovery and lower consumer spending sats opened its first artisan chocolate shop named jewels artisan chocolate in the new