Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways join forces with Thalys to link their networks to the centre of Paris, via Brussels Airport
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Brussels,
14 September 2011
Press release
Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways join forces with Thalys to link their
networks to the centre of Paris, via Brussels Airport
This partnership marks a new stage in air-rail intermodality
for long-haul trips
As from 30 October 2011, passengers departing from Paris will be able to travel with Thalys to
Brussels Airport, the city’s international flight hub; from there they will be able to choose from
numerous destinations offered by the two partner airlines, Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways.
A new stage in air-rail intermodality has just been completed. It is based on a completely new
distribution system which makes air and rail data compatible. It is now possible to book a
combined Thalys + Flight ticket between Paris and Kinshasa with Brussels Airlines or Paris to
Delhi with Jet Airways from travel agencies or on the airlines’ websites. These combined
tickets will go on sale as from today.
© Thalys © Brussels Airlines © Jet Airways
A commercial ambition supported by innovative technical solutions
Two airlines, Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways, one rail transporter, Thalys, and one airport, Brussels
Airport, are at the heart of this unique project.
For Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways, it is about gaining access to a part of the French market that
offers great potential and about increasing volumes on long-haul flights. Bernard Gustin, CEO of
Brussels Airlines, explains: “thanks to this new partnership with Thalys, we are now offering our
customers a comfortable high-speed rail solution to Brussels Airport. This new offer acts as an
extension of our flight operations and we hope that this new product will be the start of a solid
intermodal partnership between Brussels Airlines and Thalys.”
Jet Airways will operate the Paris-Brussels link as a code share with Thalys. Nikos Kardassis, CEO
of Jet Airways, states: “Jet Airways has constantly innovated to set new benchmarks and our
affiliation with Thalys high speed train is another distinctive travel solution. We are delighted to offer
our guests this unique train-plane intermodality long haul travel solution, for seamless travel between
the French capital - Paris and the Jet Airways European hub in Brussels. Jet Airways‟ guests will now
be able to access Brussels Airport from the French capital in a mere hour and forty seven minutes
thanks to the new Thalys‟ high-speed train . As the largest long haul carrier in Brussels since 2007,
offering daily six direct flights to India and North America, we are certain that our guests from France
as well as from both the Asian and North American continents will greatly benefit from this new travel
solution. We look forward to extending partnership with Thalys to more European cities in the near
future. ”
As a result of this project, Thalys is strengthening its position as a major player in intermodality.
Communiqué de presse 14/09/2011 - page 1/5Franck Gervais, CEO of Thalys International, asserts: “Travelling to and from Brussels Airport, the
international airport at the heart of our network, is part of our optimisation strategy to go beyond the
expectations of our international clientele. Moreover, through this partnership, Thalys is establishing
itself as a key player and pioneer in the development of rail-air transport.”
Michel Jadot, Managing Director of SNCB Europe and Chairman of the Board of Thalys
International, also asserts: “by developing a unique technical solution which allows mandatory
reservation trains to be sold directly in GDS, SNCB can now claim to be a major player in air-rail
distribution.”
Brussels Airlines‟ and Jet Airways‟ operations constitute an important part of Brussels Airport‟s
intercontinental network by offering several unique destinations and some, in particular in Africa and
India, which are not directly accessible from other European airports. Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels
Airport, highlights: “Brussels Airport has become more and more popular with travellers from the
Nord-Pas-de-Calais region in recent years. We are therefore very happy that this new connection
makes our services accessible to Paris and the Ile-de-France region. This area actually holds a
potential of 11 million inhabitants: a population as large as the whole of the Belgian market.”
A new step in the intermodality of air-rail
In order for this intermodal air-rail project to work, a number of technical, operational and legal
constraints had to be overcome because there are fundamental differences between the distribution
systems for air and rail. The difficulties concern the intermediation between electronic booking
management platforms (GDS – globalised at an international level for air travel, but constrained to a
national level for rail travel), as well as distribution, the implementation of common procedures,
management of disruptions, luggage policy and even the responsibilities towards passengers.
As the keystone of this new partnership, the solutions implemented have, in particular, involved
making the rail and air data compatible, such that the data from each Thalys journey (stored in the rail
inventory, Résarail) are coded in the booking system for flight tickets. So from now on, travellers who
reserve flights with Jet Airways or Brussels Airlines to or from Paris will directly be allocated a seat in
the rail inventory for the part of their journey on Thalys, between Paris and Brussels Airport. Any
modifications or cancellations will also be transmitted directly between the different systems.
This work on the compatibility of data allows a move away from the „block seats‟ model whereby
airlines would buy a fixed number of seats on the partner trains. Within the partnership between
Thalys, Brussels Airlines, Jet Airways and Brussels Airport, only the seats on Thalys that are actually
sold by the partner company are then reserved in the rail inventory.
This challenge was overcome thanks to the intervention of two technical actors: Accesrail and
BeNeRi. Accesrail is a technical tool offered to rail transporters who convert air data into rail data and
vice versa. It therefore enables rail companies to appear in GDS under the IATA code of Accesrail
(9B) in the same way as any airline. BeNeRI is the technical distribution platform of SNCB which
makes the link between Accesrail and the rail inventory (Résarail).
Timetable
Dep./Arr.
Journey Code share Operating days Period
(local time)
Paris-Brussels 9W 6151 / 30/OCT/2011 to
0625 / 0812 1234567
Airport SN4212 27/MAR/2012
Brussels Airport - 9W 6150 / 30/OCT/2011 to
0946 / 1135 1234567
Paris SN4211 27/MAR/2012
Destination: Kinshasa, Delhi, Toronto, Abidjan or even Dakar
Departing from Paris-Nord at 6.25 a.m. and arriving at Brussels Airport at 8.12 a.m., Brussels Airlines
and Jet Airways customers will have access to 24 international destinations from Brussels Airport
(which is located just 1 hour and 47 minutes from Paris with Thalys); trains are scheduled to depart
from Brussels Airport at 9.46 a.m., arriving in the centre of Paris at 11.35 a.m.
Communiqué de presse 14/09/2011 - page 2/5The customer’s journey in 5 steps
Single journey Return journey
Paris Nord > Brussels Airport > Jet Airways or Travel with Jet Airways or Brussels Airlines
Brussels Airlines destination > Brussels Airport > Arrive at Paris Nord
Step 1: booking a combined Thalys + Flight ticket
Passengers make their Brussels Airlines or Jet Airways flight booking at their travel agency or on the
airlines‟ respective websites. They will receive confirmation of their flight ticket (e-ticket) which includes
their Thalys journey (considered as a „flight‟ in terms of distribution).
Customers travelling business class will automatically be offered Comfort 1 seats on Thalys, and
economy class customers will be offered Comfort 2.
Step 2: checking in
On the day of travel, passengers arrive at Paris Nord
Returning, the procedure is the same.
station for the Thalys at 6.25 a.m. Train tickets are
Passengers will be provided with their Thalys
provided at the mobile terminal located in front of the
tickets at the departure airport during check-in.
platform, on presentation of an e-ticket number and
some form of photo identification.
Once they have arrived at Brussels Airport,
Once they have arrived at Brussels Airport,
passengers make their way to the check-in desk
passengers make their way to the Thalys
where they are welcomed and taken care of by the
departure platform which is clearly signed.
relevant airline, Brussels Airlines or Jet Airways.
Step 3: luggage
Thalys is adapted to satisfy the needs of air passengers in relation to luggage;
32 seats are reserved for storage in each of the Thalys services concerned.
Passengers are responsible for their luggage from On arrival at Brussels Airport, passengers must
leaving Paris until arriving at the check-in desk for collect their luggage and take responsibility for
their flight at Brussels Airport. it during their journey on Thalys.
Step 4: the journey with Thalys
In order to direct Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways passengers, signage towards the Thalys service will
be improved; the on-board checking of train tickets is undertaken by the train managers, as for all
journeys.
Customers travelling in business class will benefit from all of the Comfort 1 services on board Thalys
trains: an at-seat service of breakfast (at 6.25 a.m.) or a snack (at 9.46 a.m.), seating ergonomics,
international newspapers, Wi-Fi internet connection, taxi booking on arrival, etc.
9.46 a.m.: departure from Brussels Airport with
6.25 a.m.: departure from Paris Nord with Thalys
Thalys
8.12 a.m.: arrival at Brussels Airport
11.35 a.m.: arrival at Paris Nord
Step 5: the flight
Within this partnership, 19 African destinations are offered by Brussels Airlines and 61 by Jet Airways from
Paris and to Paris.
Africa – Jet Airways/ Jet Airways – Jet Airways –
Brussels Airlines Entebbe Brussels North America Asia
Abidjan Freetown Airlines – India Direct destinations Bangkok
Accra Kigali Direct destinations New York JFK Colombo
Bamako Kinshasa New Delhi Newark Dhaka
Banjul Lomé Mumbai Toronto Hong Kong
Bujumbura Luanda Chennai Kathmandu
Conakry Monrovia and 48 other Kuala Lumpur
Cotonou Nairobi destinations Singapore
Dakar Ouagadougou
Douala Yaoundé
Communiqué de presse 14/09/2011 - page 3/5Additional information about the partners:
Thalys is the red highspeed train which does not only connect Brussels with Paris in 1 hour 22 minutes, but also connects
Brussels with Cologne and Amsterdam in 1 hour 47 minutes and 1 hour 53 minutes. Since 29 August 2011, Thalys has three
new German destinations in the form of Düsseldorf, Duisburg and Essen.
Thalys is a product of the SNCF, NMBS, DB AG and NS Groups. Thalys is a member of Railteam, a collaborative venture
between the most important European highspeed operators, CER (Community of European Railway and Infrastucture
Companies) and UIC (Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer).
The baseline “Welcome to our world” is the motto of the brand name and the company which makes the quality of the reception
which it gives its customers and service its most important values. All Thalys trains have WiFi (a service which is provided by
21Net and recommended by Nokia Siemens Networks and Telenet) and have been completely modernised with a new design
and improved comfort. Catering services are provided to your seat in Comfort 1 and are available in the bar in Comfort 2.
The Thalys TheCard loyalty programme makes it possible to collect Miles and thus gain access to a range of services. This card
is available to all travellers at www.thalys.com.
Media contact:
Thalys International: Patricia Baars / 0032 2 504 05 99 / 00 32 2 548 06 34 / presse@thalys.com
Brussels Airlines is the Belgian airline that offers the widest choice of flights to and from its base in Brussels Airport. T he group
has more than 3.300 employees and 47 aircraft that operate some 300 punctual flights daily, connecting the Capital of Europe
to some 70 premium European and African airports.
On its European routes, operated with AVRO, Boeing 737, and Airbus A319/A320, Brussels Airlines offers the choice of a
premium service at a very high level (“b.business”), an ultra-flexible product, which offers time-saving and comfort at reasonable
prices (“b.flex economy+”) and a low fare product (“b.light economy”). On medium- and long-haul flights, the airline operates
traditional business or economy class. Long-haul flights are operated with Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
In addition to 20 destinations in Africa, Brussels Airlines and its intercontinental partners also offer long-haul service to the
United Arab Emirates, China, Thailand, India and North America.
Brussels Airlines is owned by SN Airholding and is backed up by more than 80 years of aviation experience in Belgium. In June
2009, Lufthansa announced its interest in the management structure and capital of the Belgian airline. Brussels Airlines has
been a member of the global airline alliance Star Alliance since 9 December 2009.
More information on www.brusselsairlines.com.
Media contacts:
Brussels Airlines
Corporate Communications
Wencke Lemmes and Geert Sciot
Tel.: +32 (0)2 723 84 00
"Jet Airways has constantly innovated to set new benchmarks and our affiliation with Thalys high speed train is another
distinctive travel solution. We are delighted to offer our guests this unique train-plane intermodality long haul travel solution, for
seamless travel between the French capital - Paris and the Jet Airways European hub in Brussels. Jet Airways‟ guests will now
be able to access Brussels Airport from the French capital in a mere hour and forty seven minutes thanks to the new Thalys‟
high-speed train . As the largest long haul carrier in Brussels since 2007, offering daily six direct flights to India and North
America, we are certain that our guests from France as well as from both the Asian and North American continents will greatly
benefit from this new travel solution. We look forward to extending partnership with Thalys to mor e European cities in the near
future. ”
Media Contact :
Jet Airways Media Relations Belgium-Luxembourg
Brussels Airport, PO Box 10 / 1930 Zaventem
T +32 2 709 09 63 / kdevalkeneer@jetairways.com
Communiqué de presse 14/09/2011 - page 4/5The SNCB is the Belgian public company that exploits and commercializes the national railway system. The SNCB is also
offering an international railways service and the transport of goods by rail. Almost 20.000 people are employed by the SNCB
and the company has a turnover of more than 2, 2 billion euro (financial year 2010). The SNCB holds participations in Eurostar,
Thalys, SNCB Logistics, … The company plays with its reliable, market adapted high quality service a key role in the
development of a sustainable mobility model.
Press Contact:
Claire Gilissen
claire.gilissen@b-rail.be
+32 2 528 84 83
Brussels Airport is one of the largest airports in Europe, handling well over 17.2 million passengers and 480,000 tons of freight
annually. Brussels Airport links the European capital with 228 destinations worldwide that are served by 94 different airlines: 78
passenger airlines and 16 full-freighter airlines (figures 2010).
Brussels Airport is dedicated to become the most European, most efficient and most welcoming airport in Europe. Brussels
Airport caters for the specific needs of the business travellers, but also has the largest low-fare offer in Belgium.
Brussels Airport is operated by The Brussels Airport Company. The shareholders are the Belgian State (25 percent) and a
consortium of private investors (75 percent).
Media Contact:
Jan Van der Cruysse
Spokesperson
+32 478 38 01 92
cm@brusselsairport.be
www.brusselsairport.be
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