Air India travelers are set to experience the advantage of maintaining the same baggage allowance for rail and bus services, aligning with the provision on Air India flights.
Air India, a Tata Group-affiliated airline, has established an intermodal interline arrangement with AccesRail, geared towards enhancing connectivity opportunities for Air India passengers throughout Europe. This encompassing initiative is especially impactful for smaller European cities that lack airports. Through this collaboration, Air India passengers gain the convenience of embarking on a unified intermodal journey, facilitated by a single ticket, which seamlessly integrates ground-level train and bus transfers. The scope of this convenience extends to more than 100 cities and towns in Austria, Belgium, Germany, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, and the United Kingdom, with European gateways situated in Amsterdam, Birmingham, London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Milan, and Vienna.
Moreover, this collaboration extends the privilege to Air India passengers of upholding the identical baggage allowance entitlement on these partnered rail and bus services, mirroring what is offered on Air India flights. AccesRail, holding its own distinct IATA designator code (9B), stands as an IATA travel partner, thereby facilitating the seamless realization of intermodal journeys through a solitary ticket. Presently, the option to secure intermodal tickets involving Air India can be accessed via global travel agencies. Notably, Air India intends to progressively extend this facility to its own sales channels.
Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial & Transformation Officer at Air India, emphasized the strategic significance of network expansion as a core priority within the comprehensive transformation of the airline. This collaboration with AccesRail not only streamlines access for travelers to an extended array of European destinations but also effectively bridges connectivity gaps between India and Europe.