Starting August 1, 2022, Deutsche Bahn (DB) will become the world’s first intermodal partner of Star Alliance. Under the new partnership, DB customers and passengers of Star Alliance member airlines will be able to start or end their journey on a climate-friendly train.
On Monday (July 4, 2022), Lufthansa announced that Deutsche Bahn (DB) will become the world’s first intermodal partner of the Star Alliance, allowing DB customers and passengers of member airlines to start or end their journey on a comfortable, climate-friendly train. Germany will be the first market and DB the first partner of the new Star Alliance initiative, which will be expanded in the future. The partnership model will seamlessly combine airlines with rail, bus, ferry or any other transport ecosystem alliance-wide.
In Monday’s announcment, Deutsche Bahn’s Board Member for Long-Distance Passenger Transport, Michael Peterson, said,
“From Freiburg to Singapore: you only need one ticket for that. 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. The new partnership 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. I n close cooperation with the airlines, we are now tackling the mobility turnaround. We are further networking our offers in such a way that we can optimally use the respective strengths of our modes of transport.”
Also commenting on the new intermodal partnership, Star Alliance’s CEO, Jeffrey Goh, said,
“Today brings great forces together and opens the Star Alliance doors beyond the airline ecosystem. Our new model for intermodal partnerships promises seamless coexistence between different modes of transport throughout the alliance. We welcome Deutsche Bahn as our first intermodal partner to Star Alliance.”
Harry Hohmeister, Board Member at Deutsche Lufthansa AG, added,
“Our partnership is unique worldwide. Once again, we are pioneers in Germany for intelligently linking different types of transport. We are creating added value for customers, for Germany as a business location, for the environment and for society. Mobility of the future means mastering challenges together. The successful Lufthansa Express Rail cooperation is an outstanding example of this – and on this foundation, we are now taking the next logical step. Our customers will benefit from this partnership more than ever before.”
Star Alliance and DB Team Members Celebrate New Intermodal Partnership - Courtesy Lufthansa
The new partnership between DB and Star Alliance builds on the successful Lufthansa Express Rail intermodal program. Lufthansa customers have been able to purchase a combined air and rail ticket in one booking step for over 20 years. In the future, all Star Alliance member airlines will be able to include Deutsche Bahn’s environmentally friendly ICE (InterCity Express) trains as a flight number in their booking engine.
Source: Lufthansa