SATS takes care of over 80% of all baggage across all four terminals in Changi Airport. In Terminals 1, 2, and 3, our teams process an average of 3.5 million bags per month.
Meet Noh. At 67, he is the go-to man for anything and everything about baggage handling at SATS. He’s been doing this work for almost five decades now, so much so that even his bosses call him in when something needs fixing.
Mohamed Noh Musa, Duty Manager, Baggage Towing, Baggage Services
Just recently, a new airline started flying out of Changi Airport. That meant updates to how bags were handled, and of course, Noh was called in to help smooth out the transition. “When you’ve done something for so long, you just know what to do.”
He’s the troubleshooter for baggage operations in Terminals 2 and 3. And he enjoys it.
“I’ve seen it all,” Noh shares. He joined SATS in 1977, at a time when bags were still sorted and organised manually and barcodes were just becoming popular.
He started as a “baggage hand,” hauling and sorting bags by hand. Today, Noh is a Duty Manager for Baggage Sorting, responsible for planning manpower needs, training new baggage staff members, and stepping in wherever support is needed.
“Most of my friends already left,” he says, “but I stayed because I saw the value in this job.”
To him, their role in Baggage is plain and simple: “We must ensure the bags go where the passengers go.”
Noh and some colleagues at SATS Baggage meeting with the PCEO for Lunar New Year 2025
Your bag's journey at Changi Airport begins at check-in. It’s then pushed into the Baggage Handling System (BHS), a 13-kilometre-long automated network of conveyor belts, sensors, and sorters that link three terminals and the Early Baggage Storage area. In just three minutes, the BHS screens and sorts each bag and sends it to its allocated racetrack (RT), a conveyor set up on the airside. From there, the SATS Baggage Team takes over.
At Terminals 2 and 3, the SATS Baggage Unit comprises almost 300 people. These include duty managers, baggage leads, officers, lost & found staff, and baggage service crew. Terminals 1 and 4 have their own dedicated teams as well.
Before bags even arrive on the RT, the team has already worked with the SATS Load Control Department to figure out how many baggage containers or ULDs (Unit Load Devices) the flight needs. A typical widebody flight needs about 10 to 12 ULDs; a larger aircraft like the A380 may need up to 18.
Once bags land on the RT, the service crew scans each one using handheld scanners, checks if they’re meant for that flight, and loads them into their assigned ULDs, which are grouped per class, e.g., economy, premium economy, business, first class.
Baggage officers loading bags from the RT to the ULD, in preparation for towing to the departure bay
An hour before the flight is scheduled to depart, the team tows the baggage containers to the bay, where the Ramp Team takes over. “The last bag must leave the RT 25 minutes before takeoff,” Noh explains.
If a bag is unaccounted for, the team checks the Baggage Reconciliation System to determine the bag’s location, whether it’s still in the BHS or has been marked elsewhere.
Thanks to new technology, the bags that the team handles are seldom lost. When a crew member scans a bag not meant for a specific flight, their device immediately triggers an alert, preventing any misplaced luggage.
The Baggage Team also handles pets. “Usually cats and dogs,” says Noh. “We make sure they’re safe and comfortable,” Noh says.
When a flight lands, the Baggage Team is already at the bay. After the ramp servicemen unload the bags from the cargo hold, the team tows the bags back to the RT, where they’re placed on the baggage claim belt for passengers to pick up.
There's also a Lost & Found Team (also part of the Baggage Unit) at the Baggage Claim area to help passengers whose bags are delayed or missing.
Special attention is given to “hot bags” or those that need to make tight flight connections. A separate Baggage Expediting Team handles these, rushing them through a priority screening line to ensure they catch the next flight.
With 48 years in baggage handling, Noh has a few tips for passengers with check-in bags:
Your bags may disappear from sight after you check them in, but now you know they’re moving through a series of careful steps, in the good hands of people like Noh, making sure they get exactly where they need to be.
