China Eastern Airlines Upgrades Air-Rail Service with AI-Powered One-Stop Booking, Multi-Modal Travel Recommendations

SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--China Eastern Airlines (CEAir) has further upgraded its air-rail intermodal service by integrating flight and high-speed rail options directly into the ticket booking process, enabling passengers to obtain a single ticket covering both air and high-speed rail segments for a more convenient, efficient, and cost-effective travel experience.

Featuring an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered seamless ticket booking experience, the integrated air-rail service is jointly developed by CEAir and China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. It represents a significant innovation in multimodal transportation, accelerating the transition from fragmented ticketing to a fully integrated, one-stop service.

When passengers search for flights via the China Eastern Airlines App, WeChat mini-program, and official website, among other authorized channels, the system automatically identifies whether the origin and destination are accessible via air-rail connections.

Without any additional input from travelers, the system presents optimal combinations of high-speed rail services and CEAir flights, including final prices and available bundled discounts.

Rail segments are treated equivalently to flights, allowing the system to intelligently match train schedules with actual CEAir flights, automatically sort results by total travel time, and ensure reasonable connection intervals, thus significantly enhancing the passenger experience.

For instance, when a passenger searches for a journey from Zhenjiang city, east China's Jiangsu Province, to Singapore, the system automatically recommends the optimal travel option combinations, such as taking a high-speed train from Zhenjiang to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, transferring to the Airport Link Line to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and then boarding a CEAir flight to Singapore, helping passengers make quick and informed decisions.

Currently, the upgraded air-rail service covers eastern China's Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces, primarily serving passengers transferring to international flights via Shanghai. It is expected to cover more regions in the future.

Since January 2024, China Eastern Airlines has been operating an air-rail transit service center at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station and offering "easy travel service" at railway stations including Hangzhou East Railway Station, Ningbo Railway Station, Suzhou Railway Station, Suzhou North Railway Station, and Kunshan South Railway Station, allowing passengers to complete check-in and baggage drop in advance for a smoother air-rail transfer experience.