SkyTeam Alliance Inks Deal With Eurostar Train Network To Enhance Connectivity

The SkyTeam alliance has signed a deal with the Eurostar train network in Europe, marking its first non-airline partner.

The tie-up should lead to greater connectivity throughout the continent and more seamless travel for SkyTeam flyers and rail travelers alike. Let’s get into all the details!

What Is Eurostar?

If you’ve traveled throughout Europe — and more specifically between London and Paris — you’re likely familiar with the Eurostar train.

If you’re not familiar with it, Eurostar is a high-speed train network that operates primarily in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It connects major cities in those countries on fast, reliable, and comfortable trains.

Its most well-known route is between London’s St. Pancras International station and Paris’ Gare du Nord. This route takes passengers beneath the English Channel through a tunnel (commonly known as “the Chunnel”) that runs under the water.

However, Eurostar has a wider network than just these 2 cities. Its main stations are found in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Brussels, Belgium; Cologne, Germany; Lille, France; London, U.K.; Paris, France; and Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Eurostar — and other train networks that crisscross the continent — are often seen as a more convenient and comfortable alternative to flying, as they can save time, money, and hassle.

Eurostar’s Partnership With SkyTeam

While we don’t have many details at this point, we do know that Eurostar has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the SkyTeam alliance that will ultimately lead to more integration of air and rail travel for millions of passengers.

“Offering travelers the choice to see Europe in the most sustainable and convenient way by rail is a key component of Eurostar’s vision for growth. We are creating a future where travelers can connect between Eurostar trains, domestic railways and long-haul flying, opening up our services to new markets across the globe. Today is a major step forward towards this mission and we look forward to working with SkyTeam to develop the customer proposition so more travellers can experience Eurostar’s unique service.”

Gwendoline Cazenave, Eurostar CEO

A tie-up between Eurostar and SkyTeam seems like a no-brainer when you look at each party’s network. SkyTeam has major hubs in Amsterdam (AMS) with KLM, London (LHR) with Virgin Atlantic, and Paris (CDG) with Air France. These 3 cities are also major points in the Eurostar network, with London and Paris playing an especially significant role.

A SkyTeam press release states that about “13% of Eurostar passengers flying long-haul into one of SkyTeam’s main European hubs connect to another Eurostar destination by rail,” indicating that there’s significant demand for multi-modal transport in these overlapping cities.

The press release also notes that SkyTeam carrier KLM already has a long-standing partnership with Eurostar, which has led to a “strategic reduction” in the number of flights offered daily between Amsterdam and Brussels. If a similar strategy is implemented at a larger scale, this could meaningfully impact the sustainability goals of the companies and the continent as a whole.

This also comes after Star Alliance added Deutsche Bahn as its first non-airline partner a few years ago.

Again, we don’t have firm details surrounding what, exactly, the partnership will look like, but the 2 companies have indicated that they’re actively collaborating to create a more integrated experience between air and rail travel, and they hope to launch the partnership officially in the first half of 2025.

We certainly hope there will be a rewards-earning and -redeeming component to the relationship (Eurostar currently has a loyalty program, Club Eurostar, through which you can earn and redeem points for train travel), though any way to make connections between air and rail travel more seamless will be welcomed with open arms. Time will tell what this will look like.

Final Thoughts

Eurostar and the SkyTeam alliance have announced a new partnership. It’s still in its infancy, so we don’t know many details right now. However, we’re excited at the prospect of these 2 travel providers teaming up to allow for more seamless journeys made both in the air and on the rails.

This is a developing story and we’ll be sure to update it as we learn more.