European Airlines Offering a Combined Air-Rail Ticket

Several airlines in Europe offer a combined air-rail ticket, where part of your itinerary is operated by a plane and part by a train.

Let’s take a look at the best-known airlines in Europe that offer train connections!

Air France

At its main hub, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport — home to a railway station served by both TGV and suburban RER trains — Air France offers the option to connect between a plane and a train on a single air-rail ticket.

You can connect from your Air France flight to a TGV train bound for French destinations such as Strasbourg, Rennes, Lille, and Poitiers.

It’s even possible to connect internationally on an Air France air-rail ticket, as the airline serves Brussels by TGV train instead of by plane.

The Air France website has a dedicated page with more details about its combined plane and train tickets.

KLM

Although KLM still offers direct flights on the short route between Amsterdam and Brussels, the airline also collaborates with Eurostar on this route, giving passengers the option to travel by train as well.

Not only can Brussels be reached with a KLM air-rail ticket, but also Antwerp, making KLM one of the very few airlines to serve this Belgian city directly, albeit by train rather than by plane.

As the railway station at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is located in the basement level of the terminal building, transferring from plane to train is a straightforward affair.

You can find more information on the KLM website.

Lufthansa

Of all European airlines, it is Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa that offers by far the widest coverage with its air-rail tickets.

You can by a combined train and plane ticket to or from nearly every major German railway station in combination with a Lufthansa flight.

A total of 28 stations across Germany can be accessed with Lufthansa Express Rail, the air-rail service offered by Germany’s national train company Deutsche Bahn (DB) in partnership with Lufthansa.

As the airport in Frankfurt has a long-distance railway station directly adjacent to the terminal, connecting from train to plane is an easy affair.

Austrian

AIRail is the name of the combined air-rail ticket offered by Austrian Airlines in partnership with ÖBB, the Austrian Federal Railways.

Thanks to AIRail, you can connect at Vienna Airport, which has a railway station in the basement level of the terminal, by ÖBB Railjet train to Austrian cities like Linz, Salzburg, Graz, or Innsbruck.

ITA Airways

ITA Airways, the Italian flag carrier, stands out for offering not only air-rail tickets within Italy in cooperation with the national railway company Trenitalia, but also for trains abroad.

Thanks to partnerships with AccesRail and FlexFlight, which facilitate intermodality between airlines and rail operators, ITA Airways also offers integrated tickets with Deutsche Bahn in Germany, SBB in Switzerland, SNCB in Belgium, and LNER, Avanti West Coast, and GWR in the UK, among others.

Recently, ITA Airways also partnered with Iryo, a Spanish private high-speed rail company, to offer connections from Barcelona and Madrid to other Spanish cities by train.

On the ITA Airways website you can find more information.

The benefits of an air-rail ticket

The main benefit of booking an air-rail ticket is that you get a combined ticket that includes both your train journey and your flight.

You are thus protected if your train arrives late at the airport station and you miss your connecting flight, as the airline is obliged to put you on the next available flight or even provide free food, drinks, or a hotel stay in case of a longer delay.

The same applies the other way around when arriving by plane and connecting by train, as in the event of a delay, the airline will rebook you on the next available train free of charge.

By offering air-rail tickets, airlines can serve more destinations than they could if they were limited to selling flights alone, giving travellers a wider range of options.

Of course, air-rail tickets also bring environmental benefits when the train segment replaces a flight.

Disadvantages of an air-rail ticket

There can also be some disadvantages to buying an air-rail ticket, depending on the airline and train company you travel with.

In many cases, you can’t check in your luggage at the railway station and must take it onto the train, meaning you’ll still need to check in your bags at the airport, which can be cumbersome if travelling with heavy luggage.

When connecting from a flight to a train, your luggage is often not automatically checked through as it is on connecting flights, meaning you must reclaim your bags before you can board the train.

Another disadvantage is that not all airports have a long-distance railway station, so if you travel on an air-rail ticket, you may first need to take a suburban train to one of the city’s main stations before connecting to your train.

This is for example the case at British and Spanish airports, as London Heathrow, Madrid Barajas, and Barcelona El Prat all lack long-distance railway stations.

Needless to say, this adds an extra segment to your journey and extra hassle, especially when travelling with heavy luggage.

Conclusion

Several major European airlines, such as Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, and ITA Airways, offer air-rail tickets.

Travelling on such a combined train and plane ticket can be an excellent way to reach your destination, as you are protected if you miss your connection.

When done right, air-rail tickets offer a seamless transfer experience, bring extra connectivity, as well as environmental benefits.