Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) and Air India today signed an agreement to form a single 50:50 joint venture (JV) company that will serve as the vehicle to house their three existing ground and cargo handling JVs in Bangalore and Hyderabad. To be named Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited (AISATS), the JV company is in the process of being incorporated in New Delhi. In September 2008, SATS was chosen by Air India as its JV partner for ground handling in India. Prior to that, both companies have already collaborated in Hyderabad and Bangalore under three separate JVs, providing ground and cargo handling services since the opening of the new airports in March and May 2008 respectively. However, the incorporation of these JVs was held back, pending Air India’s plans to select a strategic ground handling partner at the other metro airports in India, like Delhi and Mumbai where world class ground handling is required.