Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) have been steadily expanding their joint product and service portfolio since they established their strategic partnership in October 2019. In the latest such development, the partners’ SWISS Air Rail network has been extended to Geneva Airport. The expansion means that SWISS customers travelling via Lausanne, Fribourg or Bern now enjoy convenient SWISS Air Rail train connections to and from both Zurich and Geneva airports. So a SWISS traveller from New York, for instance, can get smoothly via Geneva to Lausanne, Fribourg or Bern. To date, the SWISS Air Rail network had only extended as far as Geneva’s main station. SWISS customers can book and use the new Geneva Airport SWISS Air Rail services with immediate effect.
“We are working intensively with the SBB to tailor our joint products and services ever more closely to our customers’ mobility needs,” says SWISS Chief Commercial Officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour. “And we’re delighted that, in adding Geneva Airport to our SWISS Air Rail network, we have marked a further milestone in these endeavours which will give our customers in Western Switzerland both a broader choice of connections and an even smoother and even more seamless travel experience.”
“This further expansion of our joint SWISS Air Rail network makes it even more attractive for SWISS air travellers arriving in Switzerland to continue their journey by train – comfortably, congestion-free and more seamlessly, too,” says Véronique Stephan, the SBB’s Head of Passenger Markets. “Our new direct SWISS Air Rail services from Geneva Airport make Lausanne, Fribourg and Bern a single transfer away from New York.”
SWISS Air Rail tickets newly equipped with SBB QR code
SWISS Air Rail tickets are now being issued with an SBB QR code to improve boarding pass checks. The innovation marks a further step in the partners’ endeavours to integrate their systems landscapes. The medium-term goal is to gain greater transparency on travellers’ boarding and detraining points – to ensure, for instance, that in the event of an irregularity they can be provided with specifically tailored information on their alternative travel options.
Improved access to the Swiss Travel Pass on swiss.com
SWISS and the SBB have set themselves the goal of offering travellers a maximum of intermodality – the combination of multiple means of transport such as planes and trains – to meet their travel needs. With this aim in mind, SWISS is also improving access to the SBB’s Swiss Travel Pass on its online channels such as the swiss.comwebsite and the SWISS app. These channels also offer SWISS travellers a wide range of additional travel-related products and services including airport lounge access and baggage collection options.
The Swiss Travel Pass offers visitors to Switzerland a single travel pass valid for three, four, six, eight or 15 days with which they can explore the entire country by train, bus and boat. Regular Swiss public transport tickets should also be available via SWISS sales channels by the beginning of 2024.
SWISS Air Rail: the convenient way to travel
With this further expansion, the intermodal SWISS Air Rail network now extends to two airport rail stations and 11 destinations that comprise Geneva main station, Fribourg, Bern, Interlaken, Lausanne, Lucerne, Lugano, Bellinzona and Basel in Switzerland, Munich in Germany and Bregenz in Austria. As with all SWISS Air Rail destinations, SWISS customers using the new connections to and from Geneva Airport can book their entire combined air and rail travel in one single step. The rail ticket is included in the SWISS fare, which can be booked on swiss.com or via any travel agency. SWISS Air Rail travellers need only check in once, and receive all their boarding passes directly from SWISS.
Thanks to its partnership with the SBB, SWISS can offer its customers an extensive network of connecting rail services and guaranteed connections in the event of a delay. For all their rail travel, SWISS Air Rail users must take their train to or from the rail station booked.
Miles & More members will earn both award and status miles on their SWISS Air Rail tickets, with the number of miles earned based on their connecting flight and class of travel. SWISS First and SWISS Business customers also travel in first class on their SBB train connection.
Full details of SWISS and the SBB’s SWISS Air Rail product are available here.
Tags: Tamur Goudarzi Pour, SWISS, Véronique Stephan, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)
