New Delhi: Air India today launched its direct flight from the national capital to Copenhagen, the eleventh destination for the airline in Europe, describing it as connecting ‘Maharaja with the Mermaid’.

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 here.

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, adding that he is looking forward for 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 release.

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