Airlines The World Ow trips Again. The carriers achieved a total net profit of $ 32.4 billion last year, up 18% compared to the previous year, while the number of passengers reached a new summit of 4.8 billion.
In Southeast Asia, airlines like Vietjet, Thai Airways and Garuda Indonesia posted two-digit income growth last year. But the most impressive performance did not come from a carrier, but rather from a company that keeps its feet on the ground.
Singapore Sats, which provides a range of services, including food preparation, handling of air cargoes and passenger services, tripled its income in 2024, bringing the company to n ° 93, a jump of 134 places, on this year Southeast Asia 500. Sats turnover in 2024 is now $ 3.8 billion. Sats was the biggest climber on this year’s list, not to mention the newcomers.
Much of the growth in SAT income comes after its completed acquisition of global flight services (WFS), a global supplier of air cargo logistics. Sats bought the company for 1.3 billion euros ($ 1.5 billion at current exchange rates) in an agreement announced at the start of 2023.
The acquisition of WFS SATS is now the company centered on Asia much more an international player. WFS is the world’s largest handling company in the world and is a major player in Europe and in the Americas.
A combined SATS-WFS has a combined range of more than 215 locations worldwide, covering the commercial roads responsible for more than half of the world volume of air cargo.
The history of SATS dates back to the first days of commercial aviation in Singapore, starting as the Earth’s division of Malayan Airlines. This airline then divided into Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Malaysia Airline Systems. SIA then created its field management activity as a distinct business in 1972.
Now Sats is the main provider of air cargo, ground handling and flight care for Singapore civil airport, Changi airport. Sats has since expanded its imprint throughout Asia, forming joint ventures on markets such as continental China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Indonesia.
In his last finance report For the quarter ending in March 2025, Sats declared a 13% increase in revenues from one year to the next to reach $ 5.8 billion in Singapore ($ 4.53 billion at current exchange rates), driven by growth in the commercial volume and contribution of income from its wider network.
“Our freight volumes have systematically surpassed the IATA global growth benchmarks, demonstrating our ability to take advantage of our extended network to secure new contracts,” said SATS in its annual report.
Business goals To reach $ 8 billion in Singapore ($ 6.2 billion) of income by the end of its 2029 financial year, thanks to a wider network, the growth of passenger volumes in Asia-Pacific and the role of Singapore as an aviation center.
