Travel agencies can now earn more revenue by booking Heathrow Express efficiently alongside the flight, and offer their customers a smoother and more complete travel experience. Heathrow Express schedules and fares are now shown, with the two-letter IATA designator code, “9G”, on the Amadeus Selling Platform alongside airlines. Based on standard airline e-Ticketing technology, the system generates train tickets in pdf format which the traveler can use as a valid voucher to board Heathrow Express trains, so there is no need to pick up a ticket at the station. The implementation expands Heathrow Express’ distribution to include over 90,000 travel agency locations in over 215 geographic markets around the globe through the Amadeus distribution system.

Diane Bouzebiba, Head of Rail in Amadeus commented, “With this agreement, travel agencies can make Heathrow Express bookings quickly and efficiently from the air screen; this is a significant step forward in our strategy of providing the most complete air and rail content of the industry, and streamlining the overall trip experience for the traveller. We are glad that Heathrow Express accompanies us in this effort to enhance our content and we trust other airport express railways will follow the path started by Heathrow Express.”

Brian Raven, Managing Director, Heathrow Express commented: “We are delighted to be the first air-rail link available on Amadeus. Through this partnership with Amadeus, we will see our distribution expanded as well as offering customers a seamless travel experience. Selling Heathrow Express through the Amadeus Selling Platform helps our trade partners reach the customer at travel decision time. This opens a window to all travelers booking their flight to or from London and allows agents to book their connection from the airport to the city, all at once.”

This follows the launch of Amadeus Fly by Rail, which allows travel agencies to make an open and transparent comparison between air and rail services. Amadeus will announce a further milestone in its strategy to bring all rail services onto one, simple booking platform later this year.