A TICKET TO RIDE

"During the 1960s, John Lennon wrote '…She's got a ticket to ride…but she don't care,'" said IATA Director General Pierre Jeanniot to the European Aviation Club in Brussels, 14 September.

He continued, "This song might be the rallying cry for the development of the future European transport system, where I believe it is both desirable and feasible to have only one ticket to ride, on a quite complex intermodal journey, without anyone having to care about reservations, connections/transfers, further ticketing, baggage delivery, or control authorities."

Jeanniot pointed out that most of today's major European air hubs are congested and that few major hubs are being planned. "This situation suggests that it is perhaps time to look at the development of regional, secondary, hubs with good railway feeders. So perhaps Nantes, Marseilles, Barcelona, Naples, Strasbourg, Munich, Manchester, could have an increasing role to play."

"To achieve efficient and fully integrated intermodal European travel will require us to overcome many challenges and as ever the devil will be in the details. IATA over the past 50 years has developed sophisticated standards for efficient and customer friendly interlining. We have been promoting intermodality for almost 10 years through our Travel Partners Programme. The most tangible result is the widespread use of our ATB standard by some railways. We could therefore perform a pivotal role in setting up intermodal interlining. However, we cannot today accommodate all surface operator needs, using traditional means."

"Would the European Commission be willing to direct some of its R&D funds to help the rail and aviation industry bring about a truly effective intermodal interlining?"

Jeanniot concluded, "Europe needs an integrated transport system which fully exploits the synergies of the various modes. This, I believe, is truly the way forward, providing the European community with an important tool for greater intra-European trade and economic development, making better use of scarce infrastructure resources, contributing to environmental protection and, last but certainly not least, greatly improving the service to our customers."