Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) have steadily developed and expanded their joint product and service offer, linking air and rail travel, since it was first established in 2019. What began with a strategic partnership on the Zurich Airport-Basel route has evolved into today’s network of more than 20 SWISS Air Rail destinations. The concept has proved very popular with travelers, and SWISS and SBB expect to report further growth of approximately 15% in demand for these services this year. The partnership was initially limited to a five-year period, but Switzerland’s two leading transport companies have decided to extend their successful collaboration indefinitely.
For travelers from North America, much of the allure of Switzerland lies within the entire country, from larger cities, such as Zurich and Geneva, to the quaint villages and mountainous regions that are found scattered throughout. As a result of the SWISS and SBB air/rail partnership, it is easier than ever to travel to Switzerland’s many Canton regions that may be, at times, more challenging for visitors to reach.
“SBB and SWISS are both bywords for Swiss values, quality and reliability,” said Heike Birlenbach, Chief Commercial Officer at SWISS. “This partnership enables us to offer our customers an overall travel experience that seamlessly combines the strengths of air and rail travel and, in doing so, sets new benchmarks in comfort and convenience terms.”
The partners are also further expanding their present joint product offer through the addition of four attractive destinations in Canton Graubünden. By linking the corresponding SBB services with the SWISS route network, Chur and (via the Rhaetian Railway) Davos, Klosters and St. Moritz will now also be more easily reachable for international travelers. The new routes are bookable for travel on or after 2 October 2024. “I’m especially pleased,” CCO Birlenbach continued, “that our now-extended collaboration with SBB will enable us to offer even more convenient connections within Switzerland that optimally meet our air travelers’ needs.”
“The open-ended continuation of our collaboration and the addition of these new connections to Chur, Davos, Klosters and St. Moritz tellingly demonstrate how SBB and SWISS are jointly developing a broad range of viable travel solutions,” added Véronique Stephan, Member of the SBB Management Board and Head of Passenger Services Markets. “And the benefits for all our customers are seamless connections and an expanded network of travel services that bring the world and Switzerland even closer together. We’re teaming up to bring people on board!”
Flexible travel planning
With the overall aim of optimally linking further points in Switzerland (and tourist destinations in particular) with its global route network, SWISS puts a particular focus on providing direct connections and on optimizing its customer services in the event of operational irregularities.
SWISS Air Rail can be booked in combination with a SWISS flight on www.swiss.com or at any travel agency. In doing so, customers can select any of the rail stations offered as their point of origin or destination and book both their air and their rail travel in a single step. SWISS Air Rail travelers need only check-in once and will obtain all their boarding passes directly from SWISS. They also have the option of using their rail ticket the day before their air departure or the day after their air arrival, to give them greater planning flexibility.
SWISS further offers its customers a connection guarantee in the event of delays on all SWISS Air Rail routes. SWISS First and SWISS Business passengers are further entitled to first-class rail travel on their SWISS Air Rail connection. This further expansion brings the SWISS Air Rail network to a total of 21 destinations. The network already extends to Basel, Bellinzona, Bern, Brig, Fribourg, Geneva Cornavin (main station), Interlaken, Lausanne, Lucerne, Lugano, Montreux, Sierre, Sion, Vevey and Visp in Switzerland, and to Munich in Germany and Bregenz in Austria.
Full details of the SWISS Air Rail services offered in partnership with SBB are available here: https://www.swiss.com/ch/de/book-and-manage/partner-offers/swiss-airrail
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