Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s largest airline, has expanded partnership with Korea’s railway operator Korail to offer passengers better access to the KTX bullet train.

Since this summer, officials said, passengers traveling with Air France or KLM have been offered discount deals in using the KTX trains that connect Incheon International Airport and the southern port city of Busan.

Air France-KLM is the first European air carrier to have inked a deal with Korail for passengers’ convenient use of the high-speed bullet trains, they added. 

Korail currently operates six-daily KTX trains connecting the Incheon airport and Busan. The journey takes about 3.5 hours each way.

Trains depart three times a day from Busan to the airport, at 5 a.m., 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., while four connecting trains depart from Incheon to Busan at 9:07 a.m., 12:07 p.m., 4:35 p.m. and 6:35 p.m.

Air France-KLM operates four flights connecting Incheon and Europe every day. Along with the KTX train, passengers traveling to Busan can also take domestic flights operated by Korean Air, a member of the Sky Team alliance.

Globally, Air France-KLM operates flights to 232 cities in some 100 countries. In 2013, 77.3 million passengers used the airline, whose sales reached a staggering 25 billion euros ($31 billion).

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)