Delta Air Lines is to increase its European connection offerings through the Air+Rail programme. The expansion will facilitate rail travel to and from Brussels, Manchester, Rome-Fiumicino and Zurich airports for the airline’s passengers, who will use the same reservation for both air and ground legs.
Launched in August 2021, it initially allowed travel between Amsterdam and the Belgian cities of Brussels and Antwerp. The service has continued to grow since then and now offers connectivity between European airports served by Delta and more than twenty destinations, mainly in Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and Switzerland.
When making a new reservation, airline customers can view those destinations that include the possibility of adding a connecting train segment. Passengers can purchase the ticket directly through Delta’s channels, although the service is offered under AccesRail’s terms and conditions of travel and operated by a partner rail provider, which varies by country.
Agreements between airlines and railways are common in Europe. The short distances, as well as the modern and efficient network in many of the countries, are conducive to such initiatives. In turn, many operators emphasise the lower environmental impact of trains. Last July, Star Alliance sealed a landmark agreement with Germany’s Deutsche Bahn as an intermodal partner. Lufthansa, Air France and KLM are other airlines offering such services.
Delta’s new Air+Rail services
- From Brussels (BRU) to Breda and Rotterdam in the Netherlands with operator SCNB.
- From Manchester (MAN) to seven cities in the United Kingdom with operator TransPennine Express.
- From Rome-Fiumicino (FCO) to four Italian cities, including Bologna and Florence, with the operator Trenitalia.
- From Zurich (ZRH) to seven cities in Switzerland, including Bern and Lausanne, with the operator SBB. It will also offer the service from Geneva (GVA) for customers flying to and from New York (JFK), starting in April 2023.
«Building more Air+Rail connections into our schedule provides a greater choice of destinations for our customers, including a number of these cities not currently served by Delta or our European partners, such as Bern, Rotterdam and York», said Alain Bellemare, President of Delta International.
See also: Delta to fly between New York and Geneva
