Deutsche Bahn joins Star Alliance as first non-airline partner

Star Alliance has confirmed Deutsche Bahn (DB) as its first intermodal partner, as of 1 August.

Passengers of Star Alliance member airlines, as well as DB customers, will be able to start or end their journey comfortably by rail. With Germany as its first market, Star Alliance intends to expand such intermodal partnerships in other destinations in future, strongly indicating a more environmentally friendly evolution for the aviation industry.

The new partnership between DB and Star Alliance is built on the Lufthansa Express Rail programme, which has been in place for the past 20 years, whereby Lufthansa passengers have been able to buy a combined ticket for trains and flights in one booking step.

In future, in addition to Lufthansa, all 25 other Star Alliance member airlines will be able to include DB’s ICE trains as flight numbers in their booking engine. Under the partnership, In just one booking process, Star Alliance member airline passengers can receive a combined ticket for their flight and train journeys, including seat reservation. Upon check-in – which is possible until shortly before the train departs – travellers receive their boarding passes for both the flight and the train journeys.

Customers also benefit from priority baggage handling and other services in the AiRail check-in area in Germany's Frankfurt Airport.

For all bookings of combined train-flight journeys via Lufthansa Express Rail with the member airlines of Star Alliance, points or miles can be collected for the train journeys in the preferred frequent flyer programmes of the airline. In addition, business and first-class flight passengers of Star Alliance member airlines will receive additional benefits with an LH Express Rail ticket, such as access to the DB lounges.

An aviation industry-first, Star Alliance’s Intermodal Partnership model combines airline with railway, bus, ferry or any other transport ecosystems, alliance-wide. It is designed to link loyalty systems and facilitate seamless airport/station/port transit.

Michael Peterson, board member for long-Distance passenger transport, 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."