France flag carrier, Air France has announced that it would be engaging in a partnership with national rail operator SNCF for expansion.
Which will officially kick-off on December 15th, this deal will see Air France include a new service as part of its Train Plus Air program, namely connecting Bordeaux Saint-Jean and Paris-Orly Airport. This latest move helps Air France in its commitment to cutting CO2 emissions in half on the airline’s domestic network by 2024.
According to Vincent Etchebehere, VP Sustainability and New Mobilities of Air France. “Air France is committed to halving its CO2 emissions on the domestic network by 2024, notably by suspending routes on departure from Orly for which a rail alternative is available in less than 2hr30. The deployment of the Train Plus Air service on the Paris-Bordeaux route will make it possible to meet this commitment while maintaining connections to France and the rest of the world.” -With bookings already being accepted as of December 3rd, the Air France/SNCF Train + Air program will be offered between Bordeaux Saint-Jean station and Paris-Orly airport, starting December 15th.
This will facilitate connections to the entire international Air France network on departure from Paris-Orly airport. While this is greatly reduced when compared to the airline’s network out of Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly does have connections to the French overseas territories of Cayenne, Pointe-à-Pitre, Fort-de-France, and Saint-Denis de La Réunion.
“Customers will travel by train from Bordeaux to Massy TGV, before transferring to Paris-Orly by a taxi service. There will be 5 daily departures from Bordeaux Saint-Jean and 4 daily departures from Massy TGV, with adapted schedules for quick connections.” -Air France.