New Delhi/Copenhagen, Sep 16 (IANS): National passenger carrier Air India on Saturday launched its non-stop flight service from New Delhi to Copenhagen.

The new service is Air India's third non-stop flight launched this year.

Earlier, the airline had launched its services from New Delhi to Washington and New Delhi to Stockholm.

Commenting on the launch of the new services, Air India's Chairman and Managing Director Rajiv Bansal said: "With this new service, we expect to cater to the majority of traffic between Copenhagen and Delhi... We have also received good cargo load for the sector."

The national passenger carrier aims to serve around 40,000 passengers one-way for the entire 2017.

The airline will operate the thrice-a-week service on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays to fulfil a long standing demand of travellers from India and Denmark.

To mark the launch of the new service, Air India is offering attractive return fares starting from Rs 42,700, inclusive of all taxes.

The new route is operated by the airline on its state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to Copenhagen making the city its 11th non-stop European destination and 44th international station.

The new route is also a part of the airline's aggressive strategy to focus on the international segment with non-stop flights.

In aviation parlance a non-stop flight operates point-to-point and is popular among passengers traveling on long-haul routes.

In contrast, a direct flight stops at least once between two destinations for either refuelling or disembarking of some on-board passengers.

The commencement of the new route comes after the passenger traffic between the two countries recorded a healthy growth of over 10 per cent in 2016.