East China's Xiamen Airlines launched a new twice-weekly freight service between the port city of Xiamen and Europe's Luxembourg Wednesday, the city's transport authorities said.

The Xiamen Airport saw the landing of a B747-400 cargoliner of Luxembourg's Cargolux Airlines International SA (CAISA) at 1:15 a.m. on Wednesday.

The newly opened route is China's second that provides freight service to Luxembourg, after the country's eastern metropolis of Shanghai, said Ling Weiqiang, manager of the airlines.

The cargoliner takes off at 2:45 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday at the Xiamen Airport, and stops over in Thailand's capital Bangkok before heading to Luxembourg.

The new flights are aimed at serving the growing freight transport between China and Europe, Ling said, adding that all the cargo bays were reserved several months ago.

The Xiamen Airlines now offers three weekly intercontinental freight services, the other two being the Xiamen-Los Angeles line and the Xiamen-Chicago line.

Source: Xinhua