Star Alliance has confirmed Deutsche Bahn (DB) as its first intermodal partner, as of 1 August.
Passengers of Star Alliance member airlines, as well as DB customers,
will be able to start or end their journey comfortably by rail. With
Germany as its first market, Star Alliance intends to expand such
intermodal partnerships in other destinations in future, strongly
indicating a more environmentally friendly evolution for the aviation
industry.
The
new partnership between DB and Star Alliance is built on the Lufthansa
Express Rail programme, which has been in place for the past 20 years,
whereby Lufthansa passengers have been able to buy a combined ticket for
trains and flights in one booking step.
In future, in addition to Lufthansa, all 25 other Star Alliance
member airlines will be able to include DB’s ICE trains as flight
numbers in their booking engine.
Under the partnership, In just one booking process, Star Alliance
member airline passengers can receive a combined ticket for their flight
and train journeys, including seat reservation. Upon check-in – which
is possible until shortly before the train departs – travellers receive
their boarding passes for both the flight and the train journeys.
Customers also benefit from priority baggage handling and other
services in the AiRail check-in area in Germany's Frankfurt Airport.
For all bookings of combined train-flight journeys via Lufthansa
Express Rail with the member airlines of Star Alliance, points or miles
can be collected for the train journeys in the preferred frequent flyer
programmes of the airline. In addition, business and first-class flight
passengers of Star Alliance member airlines will receive additional
benefits with an LH Express Rail ticket, such as access to the DB
lounges.
An aviation industry-first, Star Alliance’s Intermodal Partnership
model combines airline with railway, bus, ferry or any other transport
ecosystems, alliance-wide. It is designed to link loyalty systems and
facilitate seamless airport, station or port transit.
Michael Peterson, board member for long-Distance passenger transport,
said: “From Freiburg to Singapore, you only need one ticket for that.
With attractive inner-German connections and simultaneous links to
international travel chains, Deutsche Bahn and Star Alliance make a
significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions in the transport
sector. The new partnership complements our successful cooperation with
Lufthansa Express Rail, where the number of bookings has more than
doubled since 2010."
Source: M&C Asia