There are four main types of airline-railway business alliance or codeshare agreements: dedicated services, entire network access, Night&Fly, and re-protection agreements. The currently active air-rail alliances are listed in the tables below.
Dedicated services are less common than Rail&Fly alliances, due to the level of service provided. Often checked through luggage to is provided between the air and rail journeys, dedicated carriages or entire trains are provided to airline passengers, and service is to the same level expected on board an aircraft, including meals and refreshments.
Train Operating Company | Airline | From Airport | To City | Marketed As |
---|---|---|---|---|
Amtrak | United Airlines | Newark Liberty International Airport | New Haven, CT Philadelphia, PA Stamford, CT Wilmington, DE | |
CRH | China Eastern Airlines | Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport | Shanghai-Hangzhou Shanghai-Wuxi | China Eastern Air-Rail Service [1] |
Deutsche Bahn | Lufthansa American Airlines Emirates | Frankfurt Airport | Stuttgart Cologne Siegburg/Bonn / Kassel Wilhelmshöhe / Karlsruhe main station | AIRail [2] |
ÖBB | Austrian Airlines | Vienna International Airport | Linz Salzburg | AIRail [3] |
SBB | Swiss International Air Lines | Zurich Airport | Basel | Airtrain [4] |
SNCF | Air France | Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport | Brussels-Midi Strasbourg | Air & Rail [5] |
Thalys | KLM | Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport | Antwerp-Centraal Brussels-Midi | |
Thalys | American Airlines | Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport | Brussels-Midi |
More commonly referred to as Rail & Fly due to the popularity of the Deutsche Bahn service, entire network access is the increasingly common form of air-rail alliance. This allows passengers to book a discounted (sometimes free) train ticket in addition to their full-price air ticket. Checked through luggage and dedicated train compartments for airline passengers are not normally available, though sometimes first class train travel is provided. Travel is usually available to the entire rail network. [6]
♯ Indicates airlines offer Rail&Fly ticketing on company website
Also known as "Good for Trains", this is an emergency backup service for airline cancellations, providing train tickets in lieu of flights to get passengers to their destination. Such an example was during the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010, where extra trains were provided to support the airlines’ stranded passengers in Europe. These 'good for train' agreements are in place with the following airlines:
Country | Train Operating Company | Airline |
---|---|---|
Via Rail | Air Canada [14] | |
Deutsche Bahn | Lufthansa [15] |
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, commonly shortened to Lufthansa, serves as the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it stands as the second-largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried, after the ultra low-cost carrier Ryanair. Lufthansa is also one of the five founding members of Star Alliance, which is the world's largest airline alliance, formed in 1997.
A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number as part of their published timetable or schedule. Typically, a flight is operated by one airline while seats are sold for the flight by all cooperating airlines using their own designator and flight number.
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ATA Airlines, Inc. – formerly known as American Trans Air and commonly referred to as ATA – was an American low-cost scheduled service and charter airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana. ATA operated scheduled passenger flights throughout the U.S. mainland and Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Portugal as well as military and commercial charter flights around the world. In its early days, the airline flew charters on a worldwide basis and had bases in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Indianapolis, Oakland, and Milwaukee. Later, when it entered scheduled service, the airline maintained focus cities at Chicago Midway International Airport, Honolulu International Airport, and Oakland International Airport.
Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. SAS is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark-Norway-Sweden. Part of the SAS Group and headquartered at the SAS Frösundavik Office Building in Solna, Sweden, the airline operates 180 aircraft to 90 destinations. The airline's main hub is at Copenhagen-Kastrup Airport, with connections to 109 destinations around the world. Stockholm Arlanda Airport is the second largest hub, with Oslo Airport, Gardermoen being the third major hub of SAS. Minor hubs also exist at Bergen Airport, Flesland, Göteborg Landvetter Airport, Stavanger Airport, Sola, and Trondheim Airport, Værnes. SAS Cargo is an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines and its main office is at Copenhagen Airport.
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Navitaire LLC is a subsidiary of Amadeus IT Group. Navitaire primarily offers systems for passenger reservations, travel commerce, ancillary revenue and merchandising, as well as revenue accounting and revenue management to airlines and rail companies.