Air India starts direct flight to Copenhagen

Air India has launched its direct flight to the Danish capital from New Delhi, the 11th destination for the national carrier in Europe, describing it as connecting 'Maharaja with the Mermaid'.

The flight landed at the airport here after more than a seven-hour journey at around 1900 hours (local time) today.

In Air India's trademark style, the inaugural flight was operated by an all-woman crew.

The national carrier has been expanding its international operations and has started services to overseas destinations, including Washington and Stockholm so far this year.

To mark the launch of the Copenhagen flight, Air India CMD Rajiv Bansal lit the traditional lamp at Terminal 3 of the airport in New Delhi on September 16.

The flight was accorded a ceremonial water canon salute after landing at the Copenhagen airport and there was also a cake cutting function at the airport.

Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is Air India's 44th international destination and 11th European non-stop destination.

This is the 11th destination in Europe for Air India and it is "connecting the Mermaid with the Maharaja", Bansal said today, adding that he was looking forward for a good passenger load.

The iconic "Little Mermaid" statue in Copenhagen is one of the city's most famous monuments. The bronze structure sits on a rock by waterside in the city and represents a famous character from a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.

The Air India service to Copenhagen will be operated with a Dreamliner aircraft thrice a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

"AI 157 will depart from Delhi at 1430 hours to reach Copenhagen at 1845 hours the same day. The return flight AI 158 will leave Copenhagen at 2045 hours and reach Delhi at 0735 hours the next day," the airline said in a statement.

To mark the launch of the flight to Copenhagen, Air India is offering return fares starting from Rs 42,700, inclusive of all taxes.

Apart from Copenhagen, the airline has direct flights to Stockholm, Madrid, Vienna, Rome, Milan, Frankfurt, Paris, Birmingham and London.

The services to Moscow is temporarily suspended and would restart in October, an airline official said.

Air India group operates to 44 international destinations and over 70 domestic stations. It has an operating fleet of 142 aircraft, including A320, B777 and B737-800 planes.

To revive Air India, which has a huge debt burden, the government is working on the modalities for the strategic disinvestment of Air India and its five subsidiaries.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)