As a result, Air Transat and VIA Rail have streamlined their service schedules to encourage the purchase of tickets combining both modes of transportation. Customers are invited to book both their international flight as well as the 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 under the car rental and train travel booking section.

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 per cent discount will be offered on the best available fare until Oct. 31, 2012 for VIA Rail tickets purchased through Air Transat's site.

Joseph Adamo, vice president of marketing, Transat Canada, said that thanks to this partnership, Transat is making vacations even more accessible to Canadians and is allowing its customers to expand upon travel destination opportunities. Adamo also said Transat is offering vacations to over 50 destinations in the South and in Europe departing from over 20 Canadian cities, and this allows Air Transat to meet customers' expectations and modernize offerings.

Marc Laliberteì, VIA Rail’s president and CEO said 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. He also said the the announcement is driven by the ongoing effort to improve services and 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.

For more information, go to airtransat.ca.