Munich, 15 February 2023 – Flix SE (“Flix”), the global provider of affordable and green mobility, has reported record-breaking numbers today on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the first ever FlixBus ride. With a global revenue of more than 1.5 bn EUR and profitability on an EBITDA level, 2022 has been the most successful year in the Flix history – and a revenue increase of 185% compared to 2021. More than 60 million passengers in 40 countries traveled with FlixBus, FlixTrain, Greyhound in North America and Kamil Koç in Türkiye. Since the company’s foundation, Flix has carried close to 300 million travelers.

“2022 was our most successful year so far,” says André Schwämmlein, co-founder and CEO of Flix. “This shows more than ever that Flix is positioned in a highly attractive growth market– we stand for modern mobility, sustainability and digitalization. And we are just getting started.”

The company also announced a positive outlook, with at least 20% profitable revenue growth for 2023, and plans to continue investing in the expansion of both FlixBus and FlixTrain. Sustainability will continue to be at the core of Flix Group’s growth strategy.

Record growth across all regions in 2022

In 2022, the Flix group including FlixBus, FlixTrain, Greyhound and Kamil Koç, achieved a revenue of over 1.5 bn EUR with a profit on EBITDA level. Despite travel restrictions due to COVID in many countries during the first quarter of the year, more than 60 million people were using the long-distance bus and train offer from Flix and its partners. Flix has been operating in a total of 40 countries on four continents.

“We see that all markets we are operating in have recovered very well from the pandemic. We continue to strengthen our position in established markets while further expanding our offer to new countries to enable green mobility to even more people,” Schwämmlein says. Flix announced the ambition of more than a 20% revenue growth in 2023 and expects a further increase in profitability for 2023.

Europe 

Flix operates in 35 European countries, serving a total of almost 3,000 destinations. While strengthening its market leadership in key markets like Germany, France, Italy or Poland, FlixBus also expanded its offer to new countries such as Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the Baltics. Meanwhile, FlixTrain remains a welcome and highly attractive offer for customers in Germany and Sweden. In total, FlixBus and FlixTrain carried more than 38 million travelers in Europe in 2022.

Moreover, FlixBus and its bus partners have been providing humanitarian aid since the attack on Ukraine, as mobility is more important than ever for the Ukrainian people. In addition to offering more connections and free rides for refugees, the company and its partners also transported tons of relief supplies for people in need. FlixBus’ priority was always to provide immediate and unbureaucratic aid where and when it was needed the most. Flix built the leading network to connect Ukraine with Europe and has been expanding the network to and from Ukraine, with new lines to Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic. Flix is committed to the Ukrainian network and further expansion is due in 2023.

Learn more about FlixBus’ support for Ukraine here. https://corporate.flixbus.com/flixbus-supports-ukraine/

Türkiye 

Since 2019, the Turkish market leader Kamil Koç became part of Flix, serving more than 300 destinations, bringing green and smart mobility to people in Türkiye. Last year, more than 13 million passengers used the Kamil Koç services, making Türkiye one of the biggest and most important long-distance bus markets worldwide. Flix’ ambition is to strengthen its market leadership in Türkiye and further improve long-distance bus offer into regions which have not been covered by Kamil Koç historically.

The passion of the local team enabled the increased offer to many earthquake-affected regions in the last days and weeks, so help could reach the region and refugees could get to safety in other parts of Türkiye. Kamil Koç has supported search and rescue efforts from the first day of the disaster with 50 buses it has allocated: 20 buses to public institutions free of charge for search and rescue efforts in the region and 30 buses to private institutions and civil society organizations which actively join the search and rescue efforts in the region. Kamil Koç enabled almost 200 departures free of charge in the first eight days after the catastrophe.

North America 

Under the banner of Flix North America, Greyhound and FlixBus leveraged synergies, expanded the network and improved travel experience for its customers. Since January 18, 2023, both operations run on Flix technology. It took Flix only 14 months to bring the Greyhound business within the latest Flix technology. Customers can book rides with Greyhound and FlixBus on both brands’ websites and apps to benefit from an extended network reaching almost 2,300 destinations across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Last year, more than 8 million passengers were using FlixBus and Greyhound in North America.

New markets 

Additionally, Flix has started operations in Brazil in December 2021 and is now serving 33 destinations in the largest South American bus market. Flix will continue to expand the network in 2023 as the offer is being well received by the customers.

41^st country network to be launched – Further investments into bus and train planned

To deliver on its long-term vision, Flix will invest in both its train and bus services to continue the strong growth journey. All networks in Europe, North America and Türkiye will grow significantly in 2023 compared to 2022. At the same time Flix will continue to focus on profitability and increase margins on group level also in 2023. And the next milestone of FlixBus’ global expansion will be the launch of operations in Chile in 2023. After Brazil, Chile will be the second FlixBus market in South America and the world’s 41^st country with green long-distance buses on the roads.

FlixTrain will also be a key part of Flix’s expansion in the future and play a crucial role in shaping the mobility landscape. Fueled by positive developments on a regulatory level, European rail has become a promising growth market. Since launching FlixTrain five years ago, millions of passengers have used the rail offer in Germany and Sweden. Recently, FlixTrain announced to be part of the EU pilot services to boost cross-border rail in the upcoming years with connection between Germany and Switzerland as well as between Germany and Sweden.

Sustainability at the core of Flix’s strategy

Central to Flix’s vision is that access to sustainable and affordable travel is a right for everyone, which is why the company aims not only to grow profitably, but also responsibly and sustainably.

André Schwämmlein: “Driving the green mobility revolution has always been the DNA of Flix. With technology enabling intelligent route planning, strong partnerships to explore and realize alternative drive technologies, a path towards carbon neutrality and expanding our network we are well on track.”

Flix is currently preparing its first voluntary Environmental Social Governance (ESG) report in line with the global standard Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), to best investigate and measure its sustainability achievements, and identify future steps. This vision is likewise being pursued through Flix’s recent commitment to SBTi (Science-based Target Initiative), aimed at monitoring and assessing the future efforts in terms of greenhouse gases emission reduction, and the UN Global Compact, providing a globally recognized policy framework for developing, implementing and disclosing ESG policies and practices.

Such recent commitments add to the efforts put forward by Flix all along within its climate strategy. In 2022, only by using state-of-the-art vehicles and incentivizing people to prefer collective travel options over their cars and other modes of transport, 818,000 tons of CO₂ were avoided.

In terms of impact reduction, fleet transformation plays a key role at Flix. Among other things, the company pioneered the first long distance e-Buses and solar panels, launched biogas and colza biofuel lines, and joined forces with leading industry actors to further enhance the use of alternative drives on long routes: examples include the deal with Freudenberg Sealing Technologies and ZF to launch the first bus powered with green hydrogen in Europe and the partnership with Daimler Buses to develop a fully electric drive for long-distance coaches.

The offsetting system for customers is explained here. Since 2015, over 98,000 tons of CO₂ have been offset, equaling to more than 3.7 bn km traveled by FlixBus.