Kenya Airways partners with AccesRail to support its European network expansion
Kenya Airways (KQ) has signed an agreement with train ticketing company, AccesRail, to provide its passengers with connectivity to different destinations in Europe through train transfers from 3 of its 5 European gateways.
The partnership is set to enhance the airline’s product offering on its recently launched Rome-Italy flight by connecting passengers from Rome Fiumicino Airport to over 27 train stations in Italy. In addition, AccesRail will provide connectivity in the United Kingdom to 48 train stations from London Heathrow Airport; the Netherlands to Belgium (Brussels and Antwerp) from Schiphol Airport.
Kenya Airways flies to 5 cities in Europe namely Amsterdam, London, Paris, Geneva and Rome servicing both business and leisure travellers drawn from across Europe and other parts of the world. The new direct booking service will provide access for customers in cities and towns that might not have airports but have train stations.
Kenya Airways Chief Commercial Officer, Ms. Ursula Silling, said “Customers will now have the ability to buy an air ticket and connect to a train service in the UK and the Schengen Area; in addition to this the ease of booking travel will be enhanced as this can now be done via the KQ Global Distribution system to allow passengers to access more European destinations that might not have airports within but have train stations”.
Ms. Silling noted that a significant number of KQ passenger traffic is drawn from Europe. The airline is targeting to increase the passengers numbers on European routes in its efforts to grow revenue and turn around the business. She noted, Europe has been traditionally a key source market for tourists coming to Africa.
Mr. Andrew Popescu, VP Business Development AccesRail 9B, said, “It is a great privilege to partner with Kenya Airways. We are determined to help the airline gain network expansion opportunities at no real cost, network consolidation opportunities with minimum passenger loss, to give better service to existing customers, to offer better load factor at lower cost and to assist KQ maintain a strong competitive position in Europe.
The following table shows the destinations that will be served.
| Italy (Rome Fiumicino Airport - FCO) | |||||
| Station | IATA Code | Station | IATA Code | Station | IATA Code |
| Genova Brignole | GEP | Bari Centrale | BAU | Napoli Centrale | INP |
| Genova Piazza Principe | GPP | Brescia | BRZ | Padova | QPA |
| La Spezia Centrale | QLP | Caserta | CTJ | Reggio Calabria C. | RCC |
| Pisa Centrale | PSA | Foggia | FOI | Salerno | ISR |
| Bologna Centrale | IBT | Lamezia Terme Centrale | LTZ | Torino Porta Nuova | TPY |
| Firenze S. M. Novella | ZMS | Lecce | LCZ | Torino Porta Susa | ITT |
| Firenze Campo Di Marte | FIR | Milano Centrale | XIK | Verona Porta Nuova | XIX |
| Venezia Mestre | XVY | Milano Porta Garibaldi | IPR | Trieste Airport | TRS |
| Venezia S. Lucia | XVQ | Milano Rogoredo | IMR | Trieste Centrale | TXB |
