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Air India – the flag carrier airline of India, on May 30 at the residence of Ambassador of Denmark to India, announced a direct connectivity service between New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and Copenhagen Airport in Denmark, starting September 16, this year. With increasing cooperation between India and Denmark, the direct flight answers a demand for greater connectivity between the two countries.

Air India today announced the launch of direct connectivity flight service with Boeing 787 between New Delhi and Copenhagen. Starting September 16 this year, the flights will operate every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday between Indira Gandhi international Airport in New Delhi and Copenhagen Airport to tie the two capitals closer.

In 2016, traffic between Denmark and India grew by 10.1 pc and with the introduction of this direct route, the passengers can now travel without layovers.

“Currently the flight will operate thrice a week but if the traffic touches 37,500 passengers each way for the entire year, then we will consider to make it a daily flight. We are on a mission to link as many cities as possible because Air India is primarily an international airline and this will be our third international flight in this calendar year after Washington and Stockholm. We will further start four to five more connections in this calendar year itself,” says Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director of Air India.

The Copenhagen Airport is located 15 minutes from the centre of Copenhagen, the economic and cultural capital of Denmark, and 30 minutes from Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city, connected to Copenhagen by a bridge. Apart from most of Denmark, Copenhagen airport also serves 40 pc Swedens living in southern Sweden. In total, 4.6 million people live within two hours from the Copenhagen Airport.

This direct flight has the potential to strengthen ties between India and Denmark, especially the greater Copenhagen area, which notably attracts around 85 pc of foreign investment.

With increasing cooperation between India and Denmark, the direct flight answers a demand for greater connectivity between both countries. In 2016, the number of visas to Denmark issued in India increased by 20 pc as compared to the previous year.

“It is extremely exciting for everyone back in Denmark as well that now we have a direct connectivity to India from Air India. This connectivity would mean an increased leisure, MICE and business traffic growth, which is already on an increase. It is a positive trend and this flight makes Scandinavia much closer to India than before – just about seven and a half hours or so. A lot of Indians can now directly visit the Scandinavian countries and enjoy the beautiful Scandinavian nature,” Mohit Batra, India Representative, Scandinavia Tourist Board, told the Media India Group.

Improving the connectivity between India and Scandinavia further, Air India also recently announced the opening of a direct flight between Delhi and Stockholm three days a week.

To make Indo-Scandinavian travel even easier, Air India and SAS, both star alliance members, have also entered into a code share agreement making it possible for passengers to book their trip between India and Scandinavia including local connecting flights from either Air India or SAS.

“Many good forces between Denmark and India have been working closely together to reopen a direct connection between the two countries, benefitting growth, trade and tourism. Additionally, it is an important step in the bilateral strategic partnership between Denmark and India”, says Peter Taksøe-Jensen, Ambassador of Denmark to India.