Air India on Thursday said it has entered into an intermodal interline pact with WorldTicket that will offer its customers air-rail connections at 5,600 train stations in Germany with Deutsche Bahn on a single ticket.
WorldTicket is the exclusive distributor for Europe's largest railway operator, Deutsche Bahn.
This comes on the back of a similar intermodal partnership to provide guests easy access to an extensive network of rail and bus operators in the UK, Italy, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
The collaboration will enable Air India guests to travel on a single intermodal ticket beyond Frankfurt with convenient train connections to or from other cities and towns across Germany, including those without airports, on Deutsche Bahn, the airline said. Travellers can also take Deutsche Bahn trains to and from Amsterdam, Brussels, and Zurich via Air India's Frankfurt gateway, it said.
WorldTicket is an IATA travel partner with its own AOC-holding airline, FlexFlight, bearing designator code W2, thus making intermodal journeys on a single ticket possible, according to Air India.
The partnership also allows Air India guests to enjoy the benefit of the same baggage allowance on the rail routes as offered by Air India on its own flights, it said.
"While we continue to expand our own route network globally, such partnerships help us to provide an extended network to our guests”, it said.
, and make journeys to their final destinations more convenient," Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial & Transformation Officer, Air India, said.
He said Air India has observed substantial passenger traffic on its Frankfurt flights that further connects to and from other German cities and towns, and this partnership addresses the needs of an increasing number of such guests.
Currently, intermodal tickets with Air India are available for booking through travel agents globally.
The airline also plans to extend the facility to its own sales channels progressively, Air India said.
InterGlobe Enterprises plans to launch electric air taxi service in India in 2026
New Delhi, Nov 9 (PTI) InterGlobe Enterprises on Thursday said it along with Archer Aviation plans to launch an all-electric air taxi service across India in 2026.
Once launched, the InterGlobe-Archer flight will aim to take passengers from Connaught Place in the national capital to Gurugram in Haryana in approximately 7 minutes whereas by road, the 27-kilometre-long trip will take 60-90 minutes, according to a release.
Both companies have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the goal of partnering to launch and operate an all-electric air taxi service in India, subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and clearances.
InterGlobe Enterprises is an Indian travel conglomerate and the country's largest airline IndiGo is part of it. Archer Aviation is a leading player in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
The two companies plan to launch an all-electric air taxi service across the country in 2026.
"In addition to urban air taxi services, the parties plan to pursue a variety of other use cases for the electric aircraft in India, including cargo, logistics, medical and emergency services, as well as private company and charter services," the release said.
They intend to work with select in-country business partners to operate Archer's aircraft, finance and build vertiport infrastructure, and train pilots and other personnel needed for these operations.
As per the release, the partnership also plans to finance the purchase of up to 200 of Archer's Midnight aircraft for the India operations.
The Midnight aircraft is a piloted four-passenger eVTOL designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights.
"The goal is for a passenger on an InterGlobe-Archer flight to be able to fly the 27-km Delhi trip from Connaught Place to Gurugram, typically taking 60 to 90 minutes by car, in approximately 7 minutes," the release said.
InterGlobe's Group Managing Director Rahul Bhatia and Archer's Chief Commercial Officer Nikhil Goel signed the MoU.
"Over the last two decades, InterGlobe has been involved in providing safe, efficient, and affordable transportation to hundreds of millions of Indians across the country. We are excited at this new opportunity of bringing an effective, futuristic and sustainable transport solution by introducing Archer's electric aircraft to India," Bhatia said.
Goel said India is one of, if not the largest opportunity for eVTOL aircraft utilisation in the world as the country is home to the world's largest population of over 1.4 billion people and its largest cities face some of the greatest congestion challenges in the world.
Apart from aviation, InterGlobe Enterprises is also into hospitality, logistics, airline management, travel commerce, advanced pilot training, and aircraft maintenance engineering.
