Malaysia Airlines (MH) is launching a weekly full freighter cargo service to Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) in the Netherlands.

The first inbound flight is set to arrive from Kuala Lumpur in early April.

In the announcement, MST said the scheduled weekly flight would use the relatively fuel-efficient and quieter MH Airbus A330F, making MST only the second airport in Europe that MH flies to after Schiphol Amsterdam Airport (AMS).

"This is an important opportunity for MST, as since Royal Schiphol Group (RSG) invested in 40% of the airport last year, we have seen our operations consistently growing," said Jonas Van Stekelenburg, chief executive officer at MST.

"Our new runway and close partnership with AMS are among the many reasons we can offer MH a great option to fly inbound and outbound cargo to and from."

He added that MST's location, high-performing team, and efficiency are also "widely known to attract cargo flights."

"But being part of RSG is accelerating our growth and popularity within Europe as a top cargo destination," the MST chief executive added.

RSG invested a 40% stake in MST last year, with the other 60% held by the region, the province of Limburg.

Since then, both shareholders have invested EUR30 million in the new runway, which was renewed last year, and MST is currently investing more than EUR40 million in further upgrades to the airport's infrastructure and hardware.

MH is the second airline to confirm business with MST this year in January this year; Royal Jordanian Airlines was welcomed back after a hiatus due to the renewal of their air fleet.