Since the beginning of the year, 432,000 travelers have used Lufthansa Express Rail for their arrival and departure to and from Frankfurt Airport. This means that the previous year’s result was already exceeded by 28 percent in October. A total of over 500,000 bookings had been confirmed by the end of the year. Never before in the more than 20-year cooperation between Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn (DB) have so many travelers opted for the joint offer as in 2024.
Due to the high demand, the range of feeder destinations to Frankfurt Airport – one of the largest airports in Europe – is being steadily expanded: this year it has grown by 4 to a total of 28 cities within Germany. New to this are the cities of Augsburg, Siegburg/Bonn, Wolfsburg and Essen.
This means that more than twice as many cities are connected by Lufthansa Express Rail than Lufthansa currently connects by plane. Thanks to the large number of Sprinter connections, passengers can travel extra quickly between the metropolises with shorter journey times. In addition to the domestic German connections, the cooperation is also focusing on an international connection between Munich Central Station and Zurich Airport with a possible boarding point in Bregenz, Austria. This ideally complements the offer to the hub of the Lufthansa Group airline Swiss. The number of feeder trains is also increasing: DB and Lufthansa offer more than 240 daily ICE connections with the Lufthansa flight number (codeshare numbers).
“More and more people are using climate-friendly travel to their flights. Together with Lufthansa, we are delighted about the passenger record. The networking of the two modes of transport, rail and air, is very much in vogue. Our intermodal offering is growing continuously – our passengers are particularly benefiting from the ICE Sprinter network with extra-fast connections between the major cities,” said Michael Peterson, DB Board Member for Long-Distance Passenger Transport.
“We are constantly expanding our cooperation with Deutsche Bahn and thus offer our customers flexible travel options. With additional connections, increased frequency and more comfort, we have made the Lufthansa Express Rail service attractive to more and more guests in recent years. Connecting air and rail even better in the future can only be achieved with an efficient and modern infrastructure. We could offer our customers significantly better travel and transfer options at the Lufthansa hub in Munich if the airport were connected to Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance services. That is why Munich urgently needs an ICE connection,” added Dieter Vranckx, member of the board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn are continually expanding their joint offers for train and flight. For more than 20 years, the cooperation between the two partners has enabled Lufthansa customers to purchase a combined ticket for train and flight in just one booking step.
In addition to Lufthansa Group Airlines, other Star Alliance airlines are now also using the Lufthansa Express Rail service. This is made possible by Deutsche Bahn’s membership as an intermodal partner of the Star Alliance. And the program is being further strengthened: for example, United Airlines has been using the Lufthansa Express Rail service since the end of last year and other Star Alliance airlines will follow.
Lufthansa Express Rail advantages
- Fast, comfortable and flexible from 28 cities by train to Frankfurt Airport
- Optimal connection with short transfer times from train to flight
- Authorization to use the Fast Lane at Frankfurt Airport
- Free rebooking in case of delay
- Large luggage compartments in the latest generation of trains
- Special AiRail Terminal for baggage pick-up and drop-off at Frankfurt Airport
- Priority treatment of Express Rail customers’ suitcases at Frankfurt Airport
- One ticket, two boarding passes – for ICE and connecting flight
- Free Wi-Fi on the train
- Mileage credit also for the train journey
- Access to DB lounges for business and first class customers
- Bookable via all Lufthansa sales channels
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