In 2022, the Deutsche Bahn had joined Star Alliance. The initiative remained unique until the announcement of an agreement in September between Eurostar and Skyteam. Eurostar will become SkyTeam's leading non-airline partner by 2025. Customers will be able to travel on itineraries combining long- and medium-haul flights with sustainable train journeys via a single booking. All this while continuing to enjoy the benefits of SkyTeam.
Customers will then be able to fly to one of SkyTeam's main hubs in France, the Netherlands and the UK, as well as to other major European airports in the Eurostar network. They will also be able to take advantage of the rail company's network, which now covers Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the UK.
Around 13% of current Eurostar passengers are long-haul air travellers. They land at the SkyTeam hubs at Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris-CDG and London Heathrow.and connect to a Eurostar destination.
The partnership to become a reality in 2025
Gwendoline Cazenave, CEO of Eurostaris delighted with this partnership: "Offering travellers the opportunity to visit Europe by train in the most sustainable and convenient way possible is a key part of Eurostar's vision for growth. We are creating a future where easier connections between Eurostar trains, national railways and long-haul flights for travellers. We look forward to working with Skyteam. And developing a customer proposition so that more passengers can enjoy Eurostar's unique service."
Patrick Roux, CEO of SkyTeamcontinues: "Working with Eurostar, our first non-airline partner, underlines SkyTeam's commitment to offering a more integrated and responsible travel experience, incorporating intermodal travel. I look forward to developing our partnership and offering customers more options for travelling across SkyTeam's global network."
The two companies will be working together over the coming months to create a more integrated experience for air-rail travel. The partnership will take shape in the first half of 2025.
It will be interesting to see whether Eurostar trains bound for London, Amsterdam or Cologne stop at Roissy CDG station in the near future. And so help to complete the ambition of total air/rail integration between Eurostar and Skyteam...
