National carrier Air India has announced direct flights between New Delhi and Copenhagen, thereby adding its 11th destination in Europe. The flight to the Danish capital will commence from September 16 this year and will operate thrice a week. “We aim to serve 37,500 passengers each way for the entire year. If we touch that figure then we will make it a daily service,” said Ashwani Lohani, chairman and managing director, Air India. This is the third international flight launched by the national carrier this year, besides services to Washington from July 7 and to Stockholm from August 16.
Lohani had also announced plans to connect Los Angeles from September 1 as well as Tel Aviv, Nairobi and Dallas this year. “India is a country of utmost importance in Asia – politically and economically. This is an important step in the bilateral strategic partnership between Denmark and India,” said Peter Taksoe-Jensen, ambassador of Denmark to India.
In 2016, traffic between the two countries grew by 10.1 per cent, according to a statement issued by the Embassy of Denmark. The number of visas to Denmark issued in India increased by 20 per cent compared to the year before. Copenhagen airport is the third busiest airport in Northern Europe and averaged 726 daily departures and arrivals in 2016 and served a total of 29 million passengers.
