Vistara, India’s finest full-service carrier and a joint venture of Tata group and Singapore Airlines entered into an interline partnership with WorldTicket (W2), part of the 777 Travel Tech group and the only authorised distributor for Europe’s largest railway operator, Deutsche Bahn. The partnership enables Vistara to offer multimodal itineraries to its customers, empowering them to seamlessly book air and rail travel throughout Germany and other European cities on a single itinerary. Through this partnership, Vistara becomes the only Indian carrier to offer such a service for travellers to and from India.
Vistara customers can now easily connect from any one of 16,000 train stations in Germany to Frankfurt Airport and fly Vistara to Delhi, and vice versa. In addition to train stations across Germany, Vistara customers can also travel to and from Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium), and Zurich or Basel (Switzerland) on Deutsche Bahn's extensive network.
Powered by W2’s GDS aggregation technology, Deutsche Bahn's Rail&Fly product enables these flexible multimodal travel options for passengers. In addition, Deutsche Bahn’s Interline and Codeshare products with scheduled high-speed rail services create an eco-friendly transit option for European travellers.
Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Deepak Rajawat, Chief Commercial Officer, Vistara said, “We are delighted to partner with WorldTicket and offer Deutsche Bahn’s extensive network of destinations within Germany and the rest of Europe to our customers. This partnership is aimed at making the travel experience of our customers simpler and seamless as they go beyond Frankfurt to other parts of Germany and Europe on a single itinerary.”
“We are excited to be working with Vistara”, says Peer Winter, Vice President of Commercial Business Development at WorldTicket. “With the multimodal interlining partnership in place, Vistara can offer a richer experience to its passengers while increasing ancillary revenue opportunities and encouraging brand loyalty.”
The flight segment of the customer’s journey is being operated and marketed under Vistara's 'UK' IATA designator code; the train segment is operated by Deutsche Bahn and marketed by WorldTicket (W2 IATA designator code).
From the customer's perspective, they will book a single itinerary that includes both flight and rail reservations and only need to check in separately for each segment. Once passengers arrive at Frankfurt (FRA), they can clear immigration, collect their bags and proceed to the railway station at Frankfurt Airport to board their train.
“The partnership also offers Vistara and its customers unprecedented access to Europe's largest economy, which serves as a global travel destination and a gateway to the world. We look forward to continuing to partner with Vistara as we work to expand options for travellers across the globe,” added Peer.
Vistara is India’s highest-rated airline on Skytrax and TripAdvisor, and it has been the winner of several ‘Best Airline’ awards, besides being lauded for world-class cabin cleanliness and upholding high safety standards. The airline has recently been featured amongst World’s Top 20 Airlines while being recognised as the ‘Best Airline in India and Southern Asia’ for the second time in a row, ‘Best Airline Staff Service in India and Southern Asia’ for the fourth consecutive year, ‘Best Cabin Crew in India and Southern Asia’ for the second time in a row and ‘Best Business Class in India and Southern Asia’ at the coveted Skytrax World Airline Awards 2022.