SINGAPORE - Luxembourg-based cargo airline Cargolux has denied that it is planning to move one of its key Asian hubs from Singapore's Changi Airport to Batam Hang Nadim in Indonesia.

A report in The Jakarta Post on May 31 said a move to Batam, which lies just across the Singapore Strait, was imminent, after a bilateral air transport agreement was finalised between Indonesia and Luxembourg on May 30. The agreement was reached during a meeting by Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and her counterpart from Luxembourg, Mr Jean Asselborn, in Jakarta. It will be formally signed later this year.

Cargolux said that while it was true that the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and Indonesia had initialled the agreement - which would allow Cargolux to operate to Jakarta and Batam airports - it "had no current plan to operate to Batam Airport, nor to transfer any of its activities from Singapore Airport to Batam or other points in Indonesia", reported Air Cargo News, a leading air cargo publication.

Cargolux said possible future operations to Indonesia would "be evaluated on their commercial merit and will be independent to existing and future operations to Singapore and other locations".

Hang Nadim airport is due to receive a US$448 million (S$619 million) upgrade, but that is not expected to begin until 2019.