Emirates and SNCF French Railways sign deal

Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, and SNCF French Railways have signed a new deal to give travellers rapid rail/air links between Dubai and six of France’s most important regional cities via Emirates’ daily flights to Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport. 

Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Rennes, Bordeaux and Avignon are already on the plane-to-train map, with three more cities joining soon -- Marseille, Montpellier and Nîmes.

France’s TGV Train à Grand Vitesse -- High-Speed Train -- is one of the world’s most modern, running at 300 kilometres an hour. A special rail terminal at CDG airport gives passengers an ultra ‘fast track’ from the Gulf’s trade and tourism hub to France’s most important towns.

Their Emirates ticket entitles them to a rail voucher which can be collected up to 20 minutes before the train leaves. Tickets are available from Emirates offices anywhere in the world or from High Street travel agencies, and travel can start outside or inside France.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, Emirates’ Commercial Operations Director, said: “This is yet another innovation to make the going easier for all our customers, particularly business travellers setting off from Dubai to these important French cities.

“We recently boosted our Paris timetable to provide daily departures from Dubai, and will add more seats next year on this increasingly important route,” Mr Al Ghaith said.

Emirates, one of the world’s fastest-growing major airlines, took to the skies in 1985, and now serves 60 cities in 42 countries with a fleet of 41 Airbuses and Boeings. It has won more than 200 awards for service.

Its $15 billion order book includes 22 of the new double-deck 575-seater European Airbus A380s, which will be the world’s largest aircraft when they enter service from 2006.