03.11.2008 New direct service to New Delhi launched
On Monday, 27 October, SAS and Copenhagen Airport saw off the first direct flight to New Delhi, India. The inaugural flight was celebrated with champagne, Indian food and live music for passengers on their way to the capital of India.
On board the inaugural flight were 245 passengers facing a flying time of approximately seven hours to the capital of India. Before departure at 6.20 pm, passengers were treated to a foretaste of what India has to offer, including Indian food, dance and live music.
An international hub
Immediately before boarding of the aircraft, Carsten Nørland, Copenhagen Airport's director of aviation; Lars Sandahl Sørensen, director of SAS International; and Yogesh Kumar Gupta, the Ambassador of India, all gave short speeches before the red ribbon was cut and passengers were allowed to board the aircraft.
"I would like to thank SAS for their decision to start up this new route out of Copenhagen, which means that we can expand our route map with yet another intercontinental route. The new route to the capital of India helps strengthen our position as an international hub. Moreover, this new service offers good
development opportunities within tourism and trade and industry, for the benefit of both Scandinavia and India," said Nørland.There are currently 19 overseas routes out of Copenhagen, nine of which are operated by SAS. The intercontinental routes in particular are strong growth drivers and an important part of the airport's strategy of reaching 30 million passengers in 2015.
Increased travel activity between Scandinavia and India
Lars Sandahl Sørensen, director of SAS International welcomed the inauguration of the new direct service to India:
"We are very pleased to welcome passengers on board this inaugural flight to New Delhi. More and more tourists and business travellers are attracted by the many opportunities in India, and we have therefore decided to start up this new route which builds a bridge between Scandinavia and India. We hope the new direct service will increase travel activity for both business travellers and tourists who wish to explore India," he added.
Shorter travel time
The passengers on the inaugural flight from Copenhagen to New Delhi included Danish couple Møller and Irwing who were looking forward to a holiday in India.
"It is great that there is now a direct service to New Delhi. It makes it easier and faster to travel to India, and I expect that we will use this direct service in future," said the couple, who had visited India twice before.
http://www.cph.dk/CPH/UK/B2B/Airlines/News/Route+News/2008/SAS+to+Dehli.htm