Air France and SNCF French Railways are launching seven new destinations for travel from July 19, 2021. The ‘Train + Air’ partnership has been in place for more than 25 years and is used by over 160,000 customers to and from Paris-CDG and Paris-Orly annually.
On Monday (June 21, 2021), Air France announced an expansion of their ‘Train + Air’ partnership with SNCF French Railways to include seven new destinations for travel from July 19, 2021. The new routes include service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Aix-en-Provence TGV, Bordeaux-Saint-Jean, Marseille Saint-Charles and Montpellier Saint-Roche, as well as between Paris-Orly (via Massy TGV station) and Avignon TGV, Marseille Saint-Charles and Valence TGV. The TGV designation stands for “Train à Grande Vitesse” signifying high-speed rail service. Air France and SNCF have operated the Train + Air partnership for more than 25 years and the service is used by over 160,000 customers annually.
In Monday’s announcement, Air France’s Vice President – Sustainability and New Mobilities, Vincent Etchebehere, said,
“Air France is committed to reducing its CO2 emissions on its domestic network by 50% by 2024. Regularly enhancing our Train + Air offer allows us to continue to develop intermodality, one of the key elements in meeting this commitment, while offering travel opportunities to the entire world from all French regions.”
Also commenting on the network expansion, Voyages SNCF’s Chief Marketing Officer, Jérôme Laffon, said,
“Our priority is to enable French and international tourists to travel with complete peace of mind on their entire trip. The development of Train + Air enables us to meet this objective. Faced with the current climate emergency, it also offers an efficient, low-carbon alternative to the longer and more tedious journeys made by car to reach an airport.”
The added routes expand Air France’s Train + Air network to 18 rail stations. Customers using the intermodal service can travel on a single reservation for their entire journey which guarantees a seat on the next available flight or TGV INOUI train, free of charge, if their flight or train arrives late. Additionally, Train + Air travel is part of the Air France-KLM Flying Blue loyalty program, allowing guests to earn Miles on each rail leg of their journey. Customers traveling in Air France La Premiére or Business Class will also travel in First Class on SNCF trains.
Voyages SNCF is the long-distance operator of SNCF Voyageurs and serves the public. The company is the benchmark for high-speed rail in France and Europe. During 2019, Voyages SNCF carried over 140 million passengers in Europe, and sine its introduction in 1981, more than two billion passengers have traveled by TGV.
Founded in 1933, Air France has been a global ambassador in highlighting and promoting France throughout the world. The airline is a major industry player with businesses in passenger and cargo transport and aeronautical maintenance. The company has a team of over 45,000 employees who are committed every day to offering each customer a unique travel experience. The Air France-KLM Group consists of Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Transavia, and operates a vast international network through robust hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol. The Group’s Flying Blue frequent flyer program has over 17 million members. Air-France and KLM are part of the 19 airline member global SkyTeam Alliance.
Source: Air France