Air Canada announced today that it is extending its intermodal strategy across more destinations in Europe and Asia. Passengers can now book air to rail and air to bus connections in Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and South Korea. These new rail and bus connect expand the previously announced options in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President of Revenue and Network Planning at Air Canada, had this to say about the expanded partnerships:
“Following a successful launch in Europe last year, Air Canada is further growing its intermodal strategy to more European gateways and to Asia, making it possible for our customers to connect on Trenitalia, Renfe, five operators in the UK, including National Express, and KORAIL in South Korea. The expanded offer will make it easy for our customers flying to and from our international hubs to add convenient rail or bus connections on a single itinerary.”
These partnerships are becoming extremely common, especially amongst European carriers, in areas with vast rail networks. I’ve combined air and rail itineraries many times during my travels, some booked through the airline and others that I booked myself.
The new connecting opportunities have been made possible thanks to Air Canada’s partnership with AccesRail Passengers can book travel directly via the Air Canada website and can check in for the train or bus portion of their trip with AccesRail prior to departure. This bypasses the need to obtain a separate train or bus ticket. Passengers experiencing travel interruptions can have air and land segments rebooked as part of this partnership.
Air Canada Intermodal Connections
Italy
Air Canada will serve two airports in Italy this winter, Rome (FCO) and Milan (MXP). Passengers can connect onward to 30 destinations around the country including Florence and Naples via Trenitalia, the state-owned railway of Italy.
Spain
Air Canada will operate flights to Barcelona (BCN) and Madrid (MAD) this winter where passengers can connect onward via Renfe, the country’s state-owned rail transport provider. Renfe will offer connections to up to 24 onward destinations throughout Spain, including popular tourist cities such as Cadiz, Granada, Pamplona, and Zaragoza.
United Kingdom
Air Canada passengers flying to London Heathrow (LHR) will have access to onward connections by rail and coach bus. Rail services to many destinations will be available on four rail companies, LNER, Avanti West Coast, Great Western Rail, and the TransPennine Express. In addition, National Express, will offer convenient coach connections from Heathrow Airport.
South Korea
Passengers traveling to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN) on Air Canada can connect to KORAIL’s KTX Trains via the AREX Express that run between the airport and Seoul Station. Through these connections, customers will be able to travel to up to eight onward destinations including Busan, Gwangju and Ulsan.
Other Intermodal Connections
The four countries listed above join a robust network of rail connections available to Air Canada passengers. The first connecting opportunities began in December 2023 with passengers having the opportunity for onward rail connections in France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It’s clear that these have proven popular with travelers as the carrier is expanding the program in four more countries less than a year after launch.
Summary
Air Canada is expanding intermodal connections in four more countries. In addition to existing connections in France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, travelers have the opportunity to explore more destinations in Italy, Spain, South Korea and the United Kingdom all on a single ticket. As someone who has taken air to rail connections in the past, I love seeing this news and I hope it opens up even more opportunities in the future.
