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 1/5
Franck 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 Journey Code share Dep./Arr. (local time) Operating days Period Paris-Brussels Airport 9W 6151 / SN4212 0625 / 0812 1234567 30/OCT/2011 to 27/MAR/2012 Brussels Airport - Paris 9W 6150 / SN4211 0946 / 1135 1234567 30/OCT/2011 to 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 2/5
The customer s journey in 5 steps Single journey Paris Nord > Brussels Airport > Jet Airways or Brussels Airlines destination Return journey Travel with Jet Airways or Brussels Airlines > 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 station for the Thalys at 6.25 a.m. Train tickets are provided at the mobile terminal located in front of the platform, on presentation of an e-ticket number and some form of photo identification. Once they have arrived at Brussels Airport, passengers make their way to the check-in desk where they are welcomed and taken care of by the relevant airline, Brussels Airlines or Jet Airways. Returning, the procedure is the same. Passengers will be provided with their Thalys tickets at the departure airport during check-in. Once they have arrived at Brussels Airport, passengers make their way to the Thalys departure platform which is clearly signed. 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 leaving Paris until arriving at the check-in desk for their flight at Brussels Airport. On arrival at Brussels Airport, passengers must collect their luggage and take responsibility for 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. 6.25 a.m.: departure from Paris Nord with Thalys 8.12 a.m.: arrival at Brussels Airport 9.46 a.m.: departure from Brussels Airport with Thalys 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 Brussels Airlines Abidjan Accra Bamako Banjul Bujumbura Conakry Cotonou Dakar Douala Entebbe Freetown Kigali Kinshasa Lomé Luanda Monrovia Nairobi Ouagadougou Yaoundé Jet Airways/ Brussels Airlines India Direct destinations New Delhi Mumbai Chennai and 48 other destinations Jet Airways North America Direct destinations New York JFK Newark Toronto Jet Airways Asia Bangkok Colombo Dhaka Hong Kong Kathmandu Kuala Lumpur Singapore Communiqué de presse 14/09/2011 - page 3/5
Additional 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. The 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 more 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 4/5
The 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 Communiqué de presse 14/09/2011 - page 5/5