Eurostar, the high-speed rail operator, and SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, announced on Wednesday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to pave the way for an integrated air-rail intermodal ticket.
The partnership is expected to launch in the first half of 2025. Customers will be able to book a single reservation for itineraries that combine long and medium-haul flights with train journeys.
SkyTeam comprises about twenty airlines, including Air France, Delta Air Lines, ITA Airways, KLM, and SAS.
Eurostar’s network offers a variety of multi-city travel options across Belgium, the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Germany. Customers can connect to SkyTeam’s major hubs in France, the Netherlands, and the UK, as well as other major European airports in the Eurostar network.
Currently, around 13% of Eurostar passengers are long-haul air travellers arriving at SkyTeam’s main hubs in Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris-CDG, and London Heathrow, and transferring to Eurostar destinations.
KLM already offers tickets that include an Eurostar rail link between Schiphol and Brussels-Midi or Antwerp-Central, a collaboration that began in 2019 before the merger of Thalys and Eurostar.
Eurostar currently serves 28 destinations in Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. Partly owned by SNCB with just under a 20% stake, the company transported 18.6 million passengers last year.
