FlixBus

FlixBus (German pronunciation: ['flɪksbʊs]; styled FLiXBUS) is a German brand that offers low-cost intercity bus services via 400,000 routes to over 5,000 destinations in more than 40 countries in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia. It is owned by Flix SE, which also operates FlixTrain, FlixCar, Kâmil Koç, and Greyhound Lines. FlixBus operates buses or, in many cases, just handles marketing, pricing, and customer service for a commission, on behalf of bus operators. In 2023, FlixBus had revenues of €2 billion and carried 81 million passengers of which 55 million were in Europe, 14 million were in Turkey, and 12 million were in North America.

FlixBus

A FlixBus Setra S 431 DT at Berlin Messe in 2016
Parent	Flix SE
Founded	2011 (2011)
Headquarters	Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Service area	Europe United States Brazil Chile Canada India
Service type	Intercity bus service
Website	meinfernbus.de
Countries in which FlixBus operates

History

FlixBus was founded in 2011 in Munich by Daniel Krauss, Jochen Engert and André Schwämmlein. They had met in university and began discussing the concept in 2009 after plans were made to deregulate the bus industry in Germany.

FlixBus launched its first three routes in February 2013 in Bavaria, Germany to take advantage of Germany opening up its bus market to competition. In the following years, it added routes across Europe.

In April 2018, FlixBus was the first to use all-electric vehicles on a long distance bus route, between Paris La Défense and Amiens.

FlixBus expanded to the United States in 2018, first operating from Los Angeles, then expanding to the East Coast in 2019 through a partnership with Eastern Bus. FlixBus also launched service in Brazil in 2021, Canada in 2022, Chile in 2023, and India in 2024.

In April 2022, the company converted from a GmbH structure to an SE structure and was renamed Flix SE.

Financing history - parent company, Flix SE

In 2013, the company received equity financing from Mercedes-Benz Group and the Technical University of Munich.

In July 2019, the company raised €500 million in a Series F financing round led by TCV and Permira, valuing the company at over €2 billion.

In June 2021, FlixMobility GmbH raised $650 million in a Series G financing round at a valuation of US$3 billion from investors including General Atlantic, Permira, TCV, HV Capital, BlackRock, Baillie Gifford, and SilverLake.

In July 2024, EQT AB and Kuehne + Nagel acquired a 35% stake in the company for €1 billion.

Acquisitions

#	Date	Company	Seller	Notes	Ref(s).
1	January 2015	MeinFernbus		Received investment from General Atlantic
2	November 2015	LIINITA		Provider of trips of up to 15 kilometers
3	July 2016	Megabus Europe	Stagecoach Group	Stagecoach became an operating partner
4	August 2016	Postbus	Deutsche Post	German bus lines
5	May 2017	Hellö coach network	Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB)	Austrian bus lines
6	May 2018	Swebus Express	Nobina	Swedish bus lines
7	April 2019	Eurolines and Isilines	Transdev	Acquisition of Eurolines operating businesses including France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic and Spain and excluding Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Switzerland and Serbia
8	August 2019	Kâmil Koç	Private equity firm Actera Group	Turkish bus lines
9	October 2021	Greyhound Lines	FirstGroup	U.S. bus lines; price was $78 million

Accidents

• In May 2017, the driver of a double-decker bus outside Berlin, Germany, attempted to drive under a bridge with insufficient clearance, completely ripping off its roof. No passengers were on board.
• In May 2018, a bus rolled and crashed near Udine, Italy. There were 43 people on board, of whom 26 were injured.
• In August 2018, a bus traveling from Stockholm to Berlin crashed in Germany after veering off a highway, seriously injuring sixteen passengers.
• In December 2018, a bus crashed on a motorway near Zurich, Switzerland, killing two people including the driver.
• In May 2019, a bus crashed in Germany. At least three passengers were seriously injured. Initial police findings were that the bus driver was not at fault for the accident.
• In May 2019, a bus rolled and crashed into a road safety barrier in Germany. One person was killed and 60 were injured. The local police found early indications the driver had fallen asleep.
• In October 2019, a bus rolled and crashed near Bizanet, France. One person was killed and 17 were injured.
• In November 2019, a bus rolled and crashed near Amiens, France, injuring more than 30 people.
• In February 2023, an Uber Eats bicycle courier was struck and killed by a Flixbus coach in Brussels, Belgium. Two months after the incident, the government and FlixBus were criticized for not moving the bus stop away from the bike lane.
• In June 2023, a bus crashed in Avellino, Italy, when it swerved to avoid another car, resulting in one death and injuries to 26 passengers. The company was criticized by a passenger for the lack of support offered after the incident.
• In July 2023, a bus crashed into another bus in the Czech Republic, killing one of the drivers and injuring 76 people.
• In September 2023, a 19-year-old Austrian woman died after the bus overturned near Micheldorf, Austria, injuring 20 people.
• In December 2023, an overcrowded Flixbus from Vienna, Austria to Kyiv, Ukraine overturned in Trebišov district of the Košice region of Slovakia, injuring 9 passengers.
• On 5 January 2024, one person died and 11 others were injured in NY State, USA, after a Flixbus that was bound for New York City from Montreal, Canada, rolled over on Interstate 87.
• On 24 March 2024, one person died in Italy after a Flixbus travelling between Milan and Rome crashed close to Modena.
• On 27 March 2024, five people died and 20 others were injured when a Flixbus crashed near Leipzig, Germany, after veering off a highway bound for Zürich from Berlin.

Controversies

Working conditions for drivers in Germany

In 2016, FlixBus was accused by a German government agency of forcing its partners to make drivers work excessive hours at low wages.

Use of infrastructure without toll payments in Germany

Unlike train services and trucks, buses do not pay any road toll in Germany; this was criticized as a "hidden subsidy" by some German politicians in the spring of 2015. bdo, an association of German bus companies, responded that buses pay for infrastructure use in the form of related taxes (on fuel, for example) while billions in subsidies are paid to national rail provider Deutsche Bahn.

Dominant market share in Germany

In August 2016, following the acquisition of Postbus, FlixBus had control of roughly 80% of the German long-distance bus market, a move criticised by various media outlets as a de facto monopoly and harmful to competition. It was also suggested at the time that FlixBus' control of the market could lead to higher prices and less service to smaller destinations.

Buses inaccessible for wheelchair users in California

On 14 May 2020, the Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) filed a federal class action lawsuit in a California U.S. District Court against FlixBus and other bus operators alleging that buses were inaccessible for wheelchair users and staff was untrained on how to accommodate wheelchair users.

Logos

• 
  Flixbus – 2015
• 
  Meinfernbus.de
• 
  MeinFernbus Flixbus – 2015
• 
  Flixbus – 2015–2016
• 
  FlixBus – 2016
• 
  Flixbus Meinfernbus – 2016
• 
  FlixTrain 2020
• 
  Kâmil Koç
• 
  Flixmobility

External links

• Official website