If you are traveling as a passenger aboard an airplane operated by Delta Air Lines to Brussels, Manchester, Rome, and Zurich, you will be able to connect via rail to other destinations due to an expansion of the Air+Rail by the airline — and Geneva will be added in the summer of 2023.
Air+Rail Program By Delta Air Lines Expands in Europe
Passengers can use trains to travel from the following airports to 20 additional destinations, which include twelve cities that are new to the Air+Rail program:
- Brussels Airport to Breda and Rotterdam in the Netherlands with operator SCNB.
- Manchester Airport to seven cities in the United Kingdom with operator TransPennine Express.
- Rome Airport to four Italian cities including Bologna and Florence with operator Trenitalia.
- Zurich Airport and Geneva Airport to seven cities in Switzerland — including Bern and Lausanne — with operator SBB.
The Air+Rail program was first launched by Delta Air Lines in August of 2021 for travel between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the cities of Brussels and Antwerp in Belgium.
The expansion of the Air+Rail program “enables connectivity directly from Brussels, Manchester, Rome Fiumicino and Zurich airports with one Delta ticket booking for the whole journey”, according to this article from Delta News Hub. “Delta will also add the service from Geneva when its nonstop flights from New York-JFK begin in April 2023. The airline is working with leading rail operators in each country to provide onward train journeys via stations located at the airports.”
Using the Air+Rail service by Delta Air Lines is easy as booking tickets which include both segments, with those passengers who are seated aboard an airplane in the Delta One cabin receiving first class rail travel as standard. Passengers need to collect their bags from the airport before arriving at the train station, where tickets can either be printed in advance or collected from the station ticket office…
…and if disruptions occur, passengers will be able to travel on the next available train or flight.
Final Boarding Call
Although this is not a new concept — as other airlines have been using rail connections for years — the Air+Rail program of Delta Air Lines does give passengers more flexibility when traveling to and from Europe.
Photograph ©2013 by Brian Cohen.
