DB becomes intermodal partner of the Star Alliance

Credit: Deutsche Bahn AG/Oliver Lang

It has been announced that Deutsche Bahn (DB) will be the world’s first intermodal partner of the Star Alliance from 1 August 2022. Thanks to the new cooperation, DB customers and passengers of Star Alliance member airlines will be able to start or end their journey comfortably on the climate-friendly train. For the first time in international air travel, the Star Alliance intermodal partnership model will intelligently connect air, rail, and other modes of transport. Star Alliance intends to further expand intermodal partnerships in the future. Germany is the first market and DB is the world’s first partner in the new Star Alliance programme.

“With attractive inner-German connections and simultaneous links to international travel chains, Deutsche Bahn and Star Alliance make a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions in the transport sector,” Michael Peterson, Board Member for Long-Distance Passenger Transport, said. “This complements our successful cooperation with Lufthansa Express Rail, where the number of bookings has more than doubled since 2010. This is how we get more people off the plane and onto the environmentally friendly rail. In close cooperation with the airlines, we are now tackling the mobility turnaround. We network our offers in such a way that we can optimally use the respective strengths of our modes of transport.”

“This joins the forces of two different transport providers, opening the doors of Star Alliance beyond the airline world,” Jeffrey Goh, CEO of Star Alliance, said. “Our new model for intermodal partnerships creates the conditions for coordinated cooperation between different modes of transport in all Star Alliance markets.”

“Mobility of the future means mastering challenges together,” Harry Hohmeister, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said. “The successful Lufthansa Express Rail cooperation is an excellent example of this, based on this we are now taking the next step. Our customers have never benefited more from this partnership.

The new partnership between DB and Star Alliance builds on the Lufthansa Express Rail programme. This means that Lufthansa customers have been able to buy a combined ticket for train and flight in one booking step for more than 20 years. In future, in addition to Lufthansa, all 25 other member airlines of the Star Alliance will be able to include DB’s environmentally friendly ICE trains with flight numbers in their booking systems.

Customers will benefit from many advantages, such as:

• With just one booking process, airline customers receive a combined ticket for the outward and return flight and the respective train journeys including seat reservation. At check-in travellers receive their boarding passes for both the flight and the train journey
• With the integrated ICE journeys, air travellers will have even more choice in terms of preferred travel time, travel duration and the prices offered
• Customers can also enjoy accelerated baggage handling and other services in the AiRail check-in area at Frankfurt Airport
• For all bookings of combined train-air travel via Lufthansa Express Rail or with the member airlines of the Star Alliance, customers can collect points or miles for the train journeys in the airlines’ respective frequent flyer programmes
• In addition, business and first-class customers of Star Alliance member airlines receive additional benefits such as access to the DB lounges with an LH Express Rail ticket.