The Hindu Business Line : Soon you can fly and travel by rail on the same ticket in Europe

Multi-modal transportation
India, EU signed Horizontal Agreement in Marseille on September 29
The Agreement treats EU as one bloc and allows multi-modal transportation in one ticket

Ashwini Phadnis

New Delhi, Oct. 4 It is now possible to fly to most major cities in Europe and continue your journey by rail or road to smaller towns – all on one ticket, and cheaper to boot. The same facility now also exists for those wanting to fly from Europe to small towns in India.

This has become possible because India and the European Union signed a Horizontal Agreement in Marseille on September 29 at the India-EU Summit.

The Agreement treats EU as one bloc and allows multi-modal transportation in one ticket, something that the earlier Air Services Agreement between India and individual EU member states did not permit. The 27-member EU includes the UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Estonia and Spain among others.

“If a passenger wants to travel to Berlin but an Indian carrier does not fly there, then the Indian airline will be allowed to sell a ticket to a city where it flies and also ground transportation to reach Berlin on the same ticket. The cost will also be lower as it is always cheaper to buy a point-to-point ticket rather than two separate tickets to the final destination,” a senior Government official told Business Line.

At the moment most airlines from India fly to either to the capitals or major cities in Europe. Pointing out that the Agreement has been inked recently, a senior Air India official said the modalities of the multi mode ticket were being still worked out.

More Stories on : Travel & Places | Airlines | Strategy | International Travel

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Weekly News Round-up

An economy in search of policy

Rupee falls 17% in six months

IOC-OIL arm to scout for oil assets in CIS, African countries

Bush looks to sign 123 agreement soon: Rice

Steel imports up 50% in first six months

Soon you can fly and travel by rail on the same ticket in Europe

States vie for Nano project

Locals feel let down by Nano pullout

Sub-accounts rising despite amendments to FII norms