Emirates expands Italy network in codeshare agreement with national railway company

Single ticket combining flight and rail brings 27 Italian train stations in Emirates’ global network

Codeshare agreement with Italian rail company, Trenitalia, will extend Emirates airline's reach in Italy. Reem Mohammed/ The National

Emirates expanded its reach in Italy through a codeshare agreement with the Italian railway company Trenitalia that gives the world's biggest long-haul airline access to 27 stations in Italy.

Emirates passengers can book a single ticket combining flight and rail that will allow them to fly with the airline to Italy and reach additional Italian cities via rail from Bologna, Milan, Rome and Venice, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

"With Trenitalia, travelling to the Far East from Foggia, or to Padova from Sydney has never been easier," said Hubert Frach, divisional senior vice president of commercial operations at Emirates, said. "We’re connecting Italian regions to our global network, significantly boosting the Italian tourism industry."

Emirates carries more than 1.6 million passengers to and from Italy every year. The agreement is not the first time Emirates has partnered with a national railway company to extend its reach into secondary or tertiary cities. It previously signed an agreement with SNCF, France’s national railway company, that allowed the airline's passengers to travel to 19 destinations in the country.

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The codeshare agreement with Trenitalia will give Emirates access to train stations including Roma Termini, Foggia, Lecce, Milano Centrale, Padova, Venezia St Lucia, Napoli Centrale among others.

Emirates customers will be able to board Trenitalia trains directly without exchanging their boarding pass for a separate ticket. They will be assigned a seat number and car number that will be on their e-ticket, according to the statement.

Trenitalia tickets will be booked in the cabin class that matches the class of travel on the Emirates ticket.

Emirates’ baggage allowance will also apply for train journeys, as well as baggage dimension restrictions. Though, passengers will need to collect their checked bags from the arrival hall at the airport and take them to the train station, it added.