New Delhi, Dec 2 

National flag carrier Air India's maiden non-stop flight from Delhi to San Francisco in the US took off on Wednesday from here, an official said.

"With the commencement of Delhi-San Francisco operations, Air India became the first airline to offer direct connections from India to the west coast of the US," Air India said in a statement.

Prior to the departure of AI-173 from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, a cake was cut and a rose bud was presented to each of the 230 passengers.

Air India connects 50 domestic and 34 international destinations.