Deutsche Bahn becomes a member of the Star Alliance, an alliance of 26 airlines including Deutsche Lufthansa, Thai Airways, United, SAS and Air New Zealand.

From August 1st it will be possible to book the connecting journey with Deutsche Bahn with all these airlines, so it will then be shown on the flight ticket and you no longer have to buy your own ticket for the train journey.

This should make it easier to get to and from the airport and help avoid short-haul flights within Germany.

Manfred Koehler

Head of department of the Rhein-Main editorial team of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

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Representatives of the Star Alliance, Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn spoke on Monday of the start of a "unique partnership", they are building the future of travel, the goal is a "seamless customer experience".

Lufthansa has been offering the option of including the train journey when booking a flight ticket for more than two decades.

This is currently used by 500,000 travelers a year, according to Jeffrey Goh, CEO of Star Alliance.

This number is expected to increase to five million by 2030.

Connection guarantee and seat reservation

On Monday, no one made a forecast as to how much the other Star Alliance partners would benefit from the new offer.

The fact that travelers have to take care of their luggage themselves during the train journey does not change, they cannot hand it in at the boarding station.

However, everyone can use the check-in counter at the long-distance train station at Frankfurt Airport.

Anyone who uses the frequent flyer programs of the Star Alliance partners can benefit from the new program insofar as the distances traveled by train also earn points.

But then they are missing when collecting points at Deutsche Bahn.

An advantage for travelers with a ticket for the train journey is that a connection guarantee is given.

So if an ICE arrives late in Frankfurt, the airline has to see how it can get the passenger to their destination.

If a train journey is booked together with the flight, this includes a seat reservation.

Those who fly in Business or First Class can also use the DB Lounges.

Star Alliance boss Goh spoke of a unique partnership that connects the largest airline alliance, which also includes Germany's largest airline, Lufthansa, with Europe's largest railway company.

“It's a sign of innovation rooted in the pursuit of environmental sustainability.

Reduced short-haul flights

Goh indicated that the Star Alliance could envisage further cooperation with railway companies, for example in Japan.

For Lufthansa, board member Harry Hohmeister said that Frankfurt Airport, with its long-distance train station, is already a symbol of the link between the two modes of transport.

Work is currently underway to improve the connection between Munich Airport, Lufthansa's second hub, and rail transport.

The aim of the cooperation with the railways is "perfectly coordinated connections".

Lufthansa has already reduced short-haul flights, so there are no longer any flights from Hof, Augsburg and Cologne to Frankfurt, for example.

During the current congestion in air traffic, domestic flights are canceled particularly often because customers can be referred to rail connections.

Mobility turnaround by train and plane?

Michael Peterson, Member of the Board of Management of DB Passenger Long-Distance, praised the fact that in future, for example, only one ticket will be required to travel from Freiburg to Singapore.

The number of bookings for the “Lufthansa Express Rail” service has more than doubled since 2010.

"In close cooperation with the airlines, we are now tackling the mobility turnaround."

As it was also said on Monday, the prices for the connection with the railway have been agreed with the state-owned company.

The Star Alliance was founded 25 years ago, and the member airlines work together at more than 50 international hubs.

The Polish airline Lot, Turkish Airlines and Egypt Air are also among the members.