The SkyTeam airline alliance is forming partnerships with two high-speed rail lines, signing agreements with Eurostar and Trenitalia to do single-booking intermodal journeys.
Under the arrangement between SkyTeam and Trenitalia, SkyTeam technology will facilitate the integration of rail and air segments into one journey, but airlines and Trenitalia will need to form their own commercial partnerships.
The memorandum of understanding with Trenitalia sets the stage for partnerships to include reciprocal loyalty arrangements, enabling flyers to earn and spend points on eligible Trenitalia trips, SkyTeam said.
The agreement with Eurostar will enable single-booking intermodal journeys through SkyTeam hubs in Amsterdam, Paris and London as well as smaller airports where SkyTeam members fly.
SkyTeam counts Delta as well as Western European airlines ITA, Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Air Europa and SAS among its 20 members.
Trenitalia's high-speed network serves 150 destinations in Italy and also reaches into Spain and France. Along with Rome Fiumicino Airport, the network includes nine Italian cities served by SkyTeam airlines.
SkyTeam did not say when it expects the Trenitalia partnership to take effect.
SkyTeam and Eurostar expect their partnership to launch during the first half of next year. Eurostar high-speed rail serves 28 destinations in Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the U.K. Eurostar already has a partnership with KLM.
Star Alliance became the first of the three global airline alliances to enter into an intermodal rail partnership when it teamed up with German line Deutsche Bahn in 2022. That set the stage for United to begin offering single-booking air-rail journeys through Frankfurt last fall, including end-to-end loyalty point accruals.