Luxembourg shifting air cargo ops from S'pore to Batam

This article is more than 12 months old

Jun 01, 2017 06:00 am

JAKARTA Indonesia and Luxembourg have finalised a bilateral air transport agreement that will shift the latter's air cargo operations to Batam from Singapore.

The Memorandum of Understanding, which will be signed by the transport ministers of both countries on the sidelines of the Asean-European Meeting later this year, seeks to expedite air cargo inflows from Luxembourg to Asia, a senior Indonesian foreign ministry official revealed.

Under the agreement, Luxembourg will effectively make Hang Nadim airport in Batam the hub of its air cargo operations, leaving Changi Airport and its high landing fees, the ministry's director for American and European affairs, Mr Muhammad Anshor, said.

The government has not released any specific information about the deal, but Mr Anshor insisted it had been discussed in detail with the transportation ministry, which is reportedly prepared to facilitate the move.

"I don't have the specific calculations, but this cooperation initiative is sure to benefit both sides," Mr Anshor told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, adding that the administrative work had already commenced.

Besides air transport, both sides are also looking into prospective bilateral initiatives in digital connectivity, as well as in the finance and banking sectors. - THE JAKARTA POST