ir Transat and VIA Rail Canada are pleased to announce that they have formed an intermodal partnership, enabling Canadians to take advantage of both rail and air services when travelling between their home, the airport and their vacation destination. As a result, Air Transat and VIA Rail have streamlined their service schedules to encourage the purchasing of tickets combining both modes of transportation. Customers are invited to book both their international flight as well as their train ticket (connecting them to the airport) online, quickly and easily. To facilitate the shopping process, a dedicated page has been created on Air Transat’s website (www.airtransat.ca) under the car rental and train travel booking section.

“Thanks to this partnership, Transat is making vacations even more accessible to Canadians and is allowing its customers to expand upon travel destination opportunities by conducting a rail transfer to one of its main departure cities. Transat is offering vacations to over 50 destinations in the South and in Europe departing from over 20 Canadian cities, and today’s announcement once again allows us to meet our customers’ expectations and modernize our offer”, stated Joseph Adamo, Vice-President of Marketing, Transat Canada.

This agreement is the latest in a series of measures taken by VIA Rail to modernize Canadian passenger rail. In the last two years, VIA Rail has entered into numerous intermodal partnerships. To celebrate this announcement, a 10% discount will be offered on the best available fare until October 31, 2012 for VIA Rail tickets purchased through Air Transat’s site. As well, passengers can take advantage of the free AirConnect shuttle providing easy and quick transfer between VIA’s Dorval station and Montre´al’s Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport.

“This announcement is in line with VIA Rail’s strategy of creating synergy among carriers in order to enhance the client experience and facilitate intermodal travel”, said Marc Laliberte´, VIA Rail’s President and CEO. “Today’s announcement is driven by our ongoing effort to improve our services. This strategy demonstrates that by working together, passenger carriers can increase the mobility of all Canadians while increasing the number of passengers for all methods of transport.”

“We are delighted to be partnering with Air Transat, a well-respected company that has been using innovation for decades to carve out its position among the leading airlines in the world”, added Steve Del Bosco, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer at VIA Rail. “Not only does this partnership provide our clients with the option of using the airport of their choice, it also meets their need for safe, reliable and affordable modes of transportation as they travel the considerable distance between their home and their chosen airport.”