Flixbus

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A bus in the signature green livery
FlixBus
Private
Industry Transport, Travel, Travel technology
Founded 2011
Founders Daniel Krauss, Jochen Engert, André Schwämmlein
Headquarters Munich, Berlin
Area served
 Europe
Services Intercity bus service
Subsidiaries Paris, Milan
Website www.flixbus.com

FlixBus is a mobility provider offering daily intercity bus service all over Europe. Launched in 2013 after the deregulation of the German mobility market, FlixBus aimed to establish a new means of transport as "reliable and green alternative" to Carpooling and the German railway Deutsche Bahn.[1] After the merger with the competing startup MeinFernbus it became Germany's undisputed market leader.[2] It operates 71% of the German market (measured in kilometres, driven by the company).[3] FlixBus is now rapidly expanding across Europe. The company's expansion is financially backed by the global growth equity firm General Atlantic[4] and investors like Holtzbrinck Ventures.[5]

Business model

FlixBus runs on an international mobility platform by cooperating with regional bus companies from all over Europe. These local buspartners are responsible for the day-to-day running of routes, while FlixBus is in charge of the official authorizations required to operate the long-distance network. The FlixBus team handles network planning, marketing, pricing, quality management and the customer service. This unique business model leads to a high scalability and has allowed a tremendous speed of international growth.[6]

Speed of expansion

FlixBus was founded 2011 in Munich by Daniel Krauss, Jochen Engert and André Schwämmlein and launched its first route in February 2013 in Germany. One year later in 2014, FlixBus already operated a nationwide network. Along with the merger with MeinFernbus, the company also announced the internationalization of its business model. In summer 2015 FlixBus launched its Italian subsidiary in Milan[7] and entered the recently liberalized French market with "FlixBus France".[8] In November 2015 FlixBus announced its new entity FlixBus B.V. in the Netherlands and with this the very first national Dutch intercity bus network. After Germany, France and Italy, this is the company's fourth national market,[9] while the company's international lines also connect cities in Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden and Denmark.[10]

In January 2016 FlixBus announced its entry to the markets of Central and Eastern Europe with the new branch FlixBus CEE. This includes six countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Croatia) with new lines in the making.[11][12] In March 2016, the company launched first lines to the United Kingdom and Spain.[13]

The network

The network includes approximately 80.000 daily connections to 700 destinations in 18 countries.[14] In the beginning of 2016 the company announced its plan of building a long-distance network from Bordeaux to Bucharest.[15]

Services and sustainability

The provider emphasizes the sustainability of its long-distance buses, lower prices and free Wi-Fi on board. Customers can voluntarily compensate their individual CO2 emissions during the online booking process. The amount of the compensation is between 1-3% of the ticket price and goes to internationally certified climate projects to offset the equivalent of CO2 emissions.[16]

Criticism

Like many competitors in the German intercity bus market, Flixbus has been accused of unfulfillable contracts with sub-contractors that lead to excessive working hours for drivers and low salaries. Critics point out that drivers must clean the buses or sell snacks in what is deemed "free time" in order to not exceed the limits for time at the wheel. Furthermore Flixbus has gotten into conflict with several cities that moved the long distance bus station due to the congestion associated with the rapidly growing bus sector that was virtually non-existent prior to 2012. Several cities have characterized the behavior of Flixbus as "blackmail" with regards to their business decisions to serve or not serve certain stations, depending among other things upon the height of access charges, which Flixbus sharply criticizes. In this they are similar to low cost airlines which also change the airports they serve at short notice due to landing fees. Unlike competing train services and trucks, buses do not pay any road toll in Germany, which has been called a hidden subsidy by politicians of SPD and Alliance '90/The Greens.

References

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External links

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