Iryo, the last high-speed train company that has entered Spain after railway liberalization, has signed an agreement this Thursday with Air Europa to sell combined train and plane tickets between the 11 Spanish cities with which Iryo has a connection (Barcelona, Tarragona, Cuenca, Valencia, Albacete, Alicante, Málaga, Antequera, Córdoba and Seville) and the 33 domestic Air Europa destinations as well as the 21 long-haul flights operated by Air Europa.
Marketing will begin in September on the websites of both companies and also through all travel agencies, both traditional and online. At first, the attraction of this combination lies in “the convenience that it means for customers to have the entire journey of their trips on the same ticket that combines the best connection options”, as explained at the press conference. the agreement was presented by the CEO of Air Europa, Jesús Nuño de la Rosa.
The main executive of Air Europa has also presented this alliance as one more step to achieve the airline’s decarbonisation objectives and has stressed that these will be boosted when it is possible for high-speed service to finally connect with the airport of Adolfo Suárez- Madrid Barajas. A challenge that, in principle, the Government plans to be completed in 2025.
“Then this alliance will make even more sense because it will allow customers to check in at their locations of origin and take the train and plane without worrying about luggage to make the change. But for that there is still time left”, commented Nuño de la Rosa.
For Iryo, which has not yet completed two years of providing services, Air Europa becomes iryo’s first partner in a rail-aircraft association.
“The train is the optimal service to feed connections with long-distance travel”, has recognized Simone Gorini, CEO of Iryo. “It should be noted that the train and the plane are not competition but complementary. This alliance contributes to removing passengers from the roads, which promotes care for the environment.
25% of greenhouse gas emissions are emitted by road transport, so if we make it easier for customers to go by train to take a plane, we are contributing to these decarbonisation objectives”, Gorini assured.
It is expected that for the month of September, the members of the loyalty clubs of both companies will receive some launch offer for the combined ticket. At the moment, it has been presented as a combined ticket in which both amounts will be paid in the same amount as if both tickets were purchased separately.
