Flixbus Discussion

[coach fan]

Ouch. This will only hasten the demise of national express now. Stansted used to be and still is to an extent the only place they can make a guaranteed profit.

 

[extendedpaul]

If only Flixbus would change the allocated seat system.. Is it the same all over Europe ?

 

[MotCO]

Sadly, it was announded yesterday that Flixbus has taken a majority stake in Flibco.

I read it on a subscription Polish news site, but repeat some of the text here


Flix announced on January 13, 2026, a majority equity investment in Flibco , one of Europe's leading digital airport transfer platforms. This opens a new stage in the development of the airport shuttle bus segment in European public transport. The transaction strengthens Flix's position outside the traditional long-distance bus and rail market, and for Flibco, it means accelerated expansion within a larger technology platform.

"Over the years, we've learned that passengers are looking for reliable and affordable ways to get to and from the airport – not just between cities. This investment allows us to make a targeted entry into the airport shuttle segment," said André Schwämmlein , CEO of Flix . "Flix has built a strong business in a fragmented market, and we see clear potential for further scaling thanks to Flix's platform, technology, and reach," he added.

We built the Flibco concept with a clear dream: to become a leader in airport mobility. Finding a partner who shares this ambition and can keep pace with our growth is a breakthrough for us," emphasized Marc Sales , Associate at SLG . "Thanks to Flibco, we can expand this vision across borders and open up new opportunities for the entire group," he added.

At least they won't have to waste too much paint in repainting the Flibco coaches into Flixbus livery

 

[JonathanH]

If only Flixbus would change the allocated seat system.. Is it the same all over Europe ?

It is realistically the only way their "buy the seat next to you" option can work without putting seat reservations out, and it is an additional revenue source. Some people see it as a virtue, others don't.

 

[darloscott]

At least they won't have to waste too much paint in repainting the Flibco coaches into Flixbus livery

They’re all vinyl wrap anyway!
Yes Flix were sniffing around when we launched Stansted last April so to hear this news I’m not surprised in the slightest - and I am sure the Flibco team will be delighted to be joining forces with Flixbus!

 

[markymark2000]

I am very much speculating here, but now Flixbus own the majority of Flibco, they will have access to their operator contacts. Flibcos UK operator is 'Coach Travel Group' who conveniently own multiple coach operators covering most of the England (and parts of North Wales). Could this be a kind of mass expansion plan from Flixbus to to get onboard such a large group operator to get UK wide growth from having a few vehicles at each operator (similar to how they did/are doing with First). Could a larger agreement between Coach Travel Group and Flix/Flibco lead to Kings Ferry moving their loyalties too and using this partnership as a way to reduce National Express reach with operators moving loyalties?
As I say, I am speculating but if Flixbus work more with Coach Travel Group, it could help them to expand with buses in an number of areas that they don't currently serve.

Ouch. This will only hasten the demise of national express now. Stansted used to be and still is to an extent the only place they can make a guaranteed profit.

The access at Stanstead is restricted though still isn't it because Flibco only won the Stansted to London lot. And I want to say that is restricted too to the routes and frequency they can operate etc.

It is realistically the only way their "buy the seat next to you" option can work without putting seat reservations out, and it is an additional revenue source. Some people see it as a virtue, others don't.

You can always do half reserved, half unreserved like National Express does and how Megabus did things.

 

[JonathanH]

You can always do half reserved, half unreserved like National Express does and how Megabus did things.

National Express does give rows at the front. Megabus was a bit like an extra charge for late bookers, and it was always a bit odd that the back of the coach would be busy and the front not so much on journeys with lower demand.

 

[route101]

National Express does give rows at the front. Megabus was a bit like an extra charge for late bookers, and it was always a bit odd that the back of the coach would be busy and the front not so much on journeys with lower demand.

I did notice that on Megabus, the front was at times empty.

I would prefer on Flixbus if only first few rows were reservable.

Booking the seat next to you doesn't always work. Last time I used that option was on a busy overnight service and the seat next to me was the only one empty, you end trying to police it and if someone else is not in their seat, its like a domino effect and someone will end up sitting there.

The cost of booking the seat next to you on the overnight services from Scotland can be the ticket cost.

I would love to see 2 plus 1 seating like some operators.

 

[coach fan]

They’re all vinyl wrap anyway!
Yes Flix were sniffing around when we launched Stansted last April so to hear this news I’m not surprised in the slightest - and I am sure the Flibco team will be delighted to be joining forces with Flixbus!

I’m not so sure the drivers will be delighted…. Don’t flix outsource all driving work to other companies? They’re also known for running err ahem a very tight ship…

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jan 2026 ==

I am very much speculating here, but now Flixbus own the majority of Flibco, they will have access to their operator contacts. Flibcos UK operator is 'Coach Travel Group' who conveniently own multiple coach operators covering most of the England (and parts of North Wales). Could this be a kind of mass expansion plan from Flixbus to to get onboard such a large group operator to get UK wide growth from having a few vehicles at each operator (similar to how they did/are doing with First). Could a larger agreement between Coach Travel Group and Flix/Flibco lead to Kings Ferry moving their loyalties too and using this partnership as a way to reduce National Express reach with operators moving loyalties?
As I say, I am speculating but if Flixbus work more with Coach Travel Group, it could help them to expand with buses in an number of areas that they don't currently serve.


The access at Stanstead is restricted though still isn't it because Flibco only won the Stansted to London lot. And I want to say that is restricted too to the routes and frequency they can operate etc.


You can always do half reserved, half unreserved like National Express does and how Megabus did things.

It’s the Stansted to London routes that make the money and is I presume all that flixbus would really want to dip their green fingers in. The 777, 727 etc sometimes pick up single figures from Stansted and only run a few times a day.

It’s always been the London A services that make the most money. Forecourt sales alone could make 1.2 million on revenue in one month alone. Even easier for flixbus to make money considering the utter mess up Nat ex have made of the A services being incredibly convoluted and generally not as popular with passengers as they once were.

 

[markymark2000]

It’s the Stansted to London routes that make the money and is I presume all that flixbus would really want to dip their green fingers in.

Isn't the concession that Flibco won though rather restrictive in what routes they can run? Given Airport Bus Express never expanded off this route, and now Flibco has stuck to just the 1 route, it doesn't seem like the concession gives any room for expansion to other stops or run more frequently.

 

[darloscott]

I’m not so sure the drivers will be delighted…. Don’t flix outsource all driving work to other companies? They’re also known for running err ahem a very tight ship…

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jan 2026 ==

All of Flibco’s operations are all outsourced as far as I understand it. The UK one is operated by Readybus as part of the Coach Travel Group.

 

[coach fan]

Isn't the concession that Flibco won though rather restrictive in what routes they can run? Given Airport Bus Express never expanded off this route, and now Flibco has stuck to just the 1 route, it doesn't seem like the concession gives any room for expansion to other stops or run more frequently.

It’s nothing about concessions per se. More how many destinations and routes they can run with the amount of drivers and vehicles they have. They’ve been allocated three bays at Stansted which is only one less than nat ex, with further investment which will likely come from flixbus they have scope to expand in the future and really encourage national express to pull their socks up.
I think for sure now flibco will add London Victoria to their destination list. Even if it’s the greenline coach station instead of vcs.

It will make sense as well as they’ll be able to sell tickets for connecting cross country services from Victoria.

 

[markymark2000]

It will make sense as well as they’ll be able to sell tickets for connecting cross country services from Victoria.

That depends. Flixbus system currently can't cope with telling people to walk between very close stops. The 061 to Poole currently goes from Greenline and you can't get any tickets which involve connecting between it and other routes in Central London, you have to connect to/from the 061 at Heathrow. Similarly in Leeds, the 'daytime' stop and 'night' stop are less than 20 metres apart but the system refuses to offer connections between the two because it classes them as separate stops and their system won't let you walk the minute or so between stops.

 

[coach fan]

That depends. Flixbus system currently can't cope with telling people to walk between very close stops. The 061 to Poole currently goes from Greenline and you can't get any tickets which involve connecting between it and other routes in Central London, you have to connect to/from the 061 at Heathrow. Similarly in Leeds, the 'daytime' stop and 'night' stop are less than 20 metres apart but the system refuses to offer connections between the two because it classes them as separate stops and their system won't let you walk the minute or so between stops.

I see. Well that’s a rather silly situation. Although one I’m sure they could solve rather quickly if they wanted to.

 

[markymark2000]

Well that’s a rather silly situation. Although one I’m sure they could solve rather quickly if they wanted to.

You'd have thought they would have solved it before now though. Not least when they are wilfully mis advertising the Greenline 757 service as running from Victoria Coach Station rather than Greenline so that the connecting tickets work, as they know without bodging and misadvertising, no tickets would sell.

 

[gingerheid]

I've just been horrifying myself with FlixBus's reliability. I tried to use it to commute last week, and after the cancellations started happening I realised that on most days a third of the journeys don't run.

I'd got the confidence to rely on it because I'd noticed that some journeys were selling out, and I thought this meant they were doing well and wouldn't pull the service and leave me needing to buy 3 months of train tickets once the cheap ones were gone! I now realise that these are proposed cancellations that won't be notified to people that have booked until 24h30m before departure

 

[markymark2000]

I'd got the confidence to rely on it because I'd noticed that some journeys were selling out, and I thought this meant they were doing well and wouldn't pull the service and leave me needing to buy 3 months of train tickets once the cheap ones were gone! I now realise that these are proposed cancellations that won't be notified to people that have booked until 24h30m before departure

For some reason Cozy do seem to struggle to run a full 066 service (I presume this is the route you are referring to as it's the only that seems to suffer such cancellations). Logic would suggest cutting the services back to a manageable level but they don't seem to want to do that.
It's also worth noting that the 'sell outs' are rare on these routes unless there is engineering work (such as today when some trips are full between Stratford and Gatwick because there is engineering work between East Croydon and Gatwick). In most cases the 'sell outs' are where a trip as been cancelled. Rather than showing hiding it from the booking system, or showing cancelled, it stays on there but shows as fully booked.

Today for example, there is a 10:00 trip from Brighton showing as fully booked but then you go onto the trip tracker and it's actually cancelled.

 

[swinny1990]

Spirit of Sussex Coaches to debut Yutong GT14 onto FlixBus duties - routeone

Spirit of Sussex Coaches will join the FlixBus network in a move that will see the first Yutong GT14 coaches enter service on that work.

www.route-one.net

 

[route101]

I wonder if there will be more routes from Brighton.

Spirit of Sussex Coaches to debut Yutong GT14 onto FlixBus duties - routeone

Spirit of Sussex Coaches will join the FlixBus network in a move that will see the first Yutong GT14 coaches enter service on that work.

www.route-one.net

 

[James H]

Route 061 London to Poole now showing additional journeys bookable from 1 April - as many as 9 trips a day

 

[swinny1990]

Hopefully more gt14s will get ordered for flix

 

[nick291]

Hopefully more gt14s will get ordered for flix

Would do well on the South Wales-Gatwick runs for sure!

 

[Park47515]

Spirit of Sussex Coaches to debut Yutong GT14 onto FlixBus duties - routeone

Spirit of Sussex Coaches will join the FlixBus network in a move that will see the first Yutong GT14 coaches enter service on that work.

www.route-one.net

What is the current PVR from Brighton departures?

 

[markymark2000]

What is the current PVR from Brighton departures?

The current PVR is 3. But these are operated by Cozys in Royston, and operated from the Cambridge end of the route.

Route 061 London to Poole now showing additional journeys bookable from 1 April - as many as 9 trips a day

Quite a big enhancement there. Giving NatEx a proper run for their money on this corridor. Only shame is that the 061 doesn't run into Victoria Coach Station. Hopefully they can find slots in VCS shortly.

 

[Highland050261]

Hopefully more gt14s will get ordered for flix

McGill's have some on order I believe aswell.

 

[gingerheid]

Do Flix split services between operators? The UK066 might lend itself to some extra services (that actually run; it was indeed that service I was talking about!) operated from the Brighton end! It seems to be doing well between Stratford and Gatwick (I assume, the passengers have luggage that make them look more like airport traffic than the people getting on in Cambridge!)

 

[markymark2000]

Do Flix split services between operators?

Yes, multiple routes are split between operators.

The UK066 might lend itself to some extra services (that actually run; it was indeed that service I was talking about!) operated from the Brighton end! It seems to be doing well between Stratford and Gatwick.

I'm not overly surprised at this. Pre 066, there were basically no links for anyone in Essex or East Anglia to get to Gatwick without either going into Central London, or changing coaches at Heathrow in some cases. The 066 offers a 'Zone 1 avoider' journey with just a single change.
Given the news about Flibco above, I think a Stratford to Gatwick serviec is the sort of link that Flix/Flib could do really well running hourly. Specifically using Flibcos brand because they already have the staff at Stratford City and can boost the service that way, rather than this being an infrequent Flixbus Airport link.

 

[route101]

McGill's have some on order I believe aswell.

I wonder if they will use them to replace older coaches or expand.

 

[Dfatcontroller]

I wonder if they will use them to replace older coaches or expand.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Tourismos move to the Loch Lomond Tours side of the business.

 

[markymark2000]

Another join from the GoAhead group.
Plymouth Citybus will be joining with 2 Yutong GT12s in Spring 2026.

FlixBus and Plymouth Citybus Partner on New Coach Services from Spring 2026

Plymouth Citybus and FlixBus have announced a new partnership, with long-distance coach services expected to begin in spring 2026.

bus-news.com

Plymouth Citybus and FlixBus have announced a new partnership, with long-distance coach services expected to begin in spring 2026.

Under the agreement, Plymouth Citybus will operate FlixBus-branded coach services as part of the company’s UK network. The partnership marks Plymouth Citybus’s first involvement in express coach operations.


FlixBus, which entered the UK market in 2021, has continued to expand its network and currently serves more than 80 destinations across the country. The company works with local operators to deliver services under its brand and technology platform.

Andreas Schorling, Vice President of West Europe at FlixBus said:
Partnering with Plymouth Citybus enhances our network with a fantastic new operator and allows us to deliver more sustainable travel options and economic growth for the country.
The response to our UK expansion has been overwhelmingly positive from customers, and we have a clear strategy to grow our network significantly in 2026, increasing capacity in key corridors as well as opening up new routes.

Plymouth Citybus forms part of the Go South West group, which provides local bus and coach services across the region. The group employs around 1,000 staff and operates a fleet of approximately 400 vehicles.

As part of the partnership, Plymouth Citybus will take delivery of two Yutong GT12 coaches, which will be finished in full FlixBus livery and used on the new routes.

Richard Stevens, Managing Director of Plymouth Citybus said:
The new partnership brings express work to our portfolio for the first time, diversifying our business. It is clear that FlixBus are the leader in the coach sector, offering a dynamic approach to the industry, and we are beyond excited to be coming on board.