Newsroom Press Releases

22. April 2024

Flix enabled travelers to avoid over 1 million tonnes CO2 in 2023: Collective travel leads the way to a sustainable future.

+++ Collective travel helps avoid emissions: more than 1 million tonnes CO2 avoided in 2023 by choosing Flix over other modes of transport, like cars or planes. 

+++ Flix confirms carbon neutrality goals: 2040 as timeframe for Europe, 2050 globally across operations.

+++ SBTi validates Flix’s near-term targets: Own (Scope 1&2) and partners’ emissions (Scope 3) to be reduced by 54.6% and 40.9% by 2032[1].

+++ Flix publishes second voluntary ESG report, available here.

Munich, April 22nd, 2024 – On today’s Earth Day, global travel-tech leader Flix issues its second voluntary ESG report disclosing its near-term goals for emissions reduction, while highlighting the environmental benefits of collective travel.

With more than 81 million passengers in 2023, the company drives sustainable and affordable travel for all with a holistic ESG strategy at the core of its business. Following the Science Based Target initiative’s (SBTi) validation of its near-term emissions reduction targets and having achieved meaningful progress in the past year, Flix looks to the future with confidence.

 

«We are committed to transforming long-distance travel globally. With eleven years of experience as a global travel-tech company reshaping the sector with a steady vision, we aim to be a driving force towards a sustainable future. Sustainability will remain the guiding principle along this path, with focus on safeguarding the environment and creating value for our stakeholders and the communities we serve», commented André Schwämmlein, CEO and Co-Founder of Flix.

 

Flix-analysis quantifies emissions benefit of collective travel

Collective transport represents a key lever to make travel more sustainable. To quantify this benefit, Flix compared emissions of several modes of transport and calculated resounding savings of CO2-emission per passenger kilometer over the past year. According to this analysis, over 1 million tonnes CO2 were avoided in 2023 alone thanks to travelers choosing Flix services over other modes of transport, like a car or plane[2].

 

While passengers changing their approach to travel and embracing collective transportation plays a crucial role, operators also have a duty to support this transition by enabling people to travel more easily, especially across poorly connected regions. Acknowledging this, in 2023, Flix provided regular connections across more than 5,600 destinations on four continents, a third of which with populations of fewer than 20,000 inhabitants.

 

Flix’s near-term goals for emissions reduction validated by SBTi

As part of its decarbonization strategy, Flix is committed to achieving carbon-neutral operations in Europe by 2040 and globally by 2050. The company established near-term targets for emissions reduction with the Science Based Targets initiative to assess its progress within a scientifically recognized framework. The SBTi provides companies with the guidance to set greenhouse gas reduction targets to fight climate change and aim for net-zero emissions by 2050.

 

The SBTi has validated Flix’s near-term targets, thus acknowledging that its strategy is in line with global climate goals.

By 2032[3], Flix has set the target to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 54.6%. This includes greenhouse gas emissions directly and indirectly generated by Flix, associated with the consumption of electricity, steam, heat, or cooling, and with the fuel consumption of its own fleet. Additionally, Flix aims to reduce its Scope 3 emissions by 40.9%, which includes emissions generated by its partners’ fleets per passenger kilometer.

 

Sustainability beyond environmental protection: Flix’s second voluntary ESG report published

On today’s Earth Day, Flix released its second voluntary ESG report, providing an overview on actions carried out in 2023 towards ensuring sustainable growth in its day-to-day business.

Along with the areas typically referred to within this framework – those of Environment, People, and Governance – Travel represents another fundamental pillar of its strategy, focusing on its partners’ fleet transformation through new energy sources and technologies, as well as intelligent, tech-driven network planning to enable optimum connectivity across its network.

 

Together with over 1 million tonnes CO2 avoided thanks to travelers choosing Flix over other modes of transport, another key indicator of Flix’s environmental performance is the fact that almost all Flix-coaches (98%) in Europe are equipped with the latest EURO VI efficiency standard. Regarding Flix’s social performance, key figures include 44% female new hires in 2023 and a global company employee eNPS[4] of 37, ten points above the tech industry benchmark. Regarding safety, Flix’s Safety Management System remains an effective reference scheme comprising several measures from driving and resting times to safety proceedings. Regarding governance, in 2023, Flix significantly increased the number of women in its Supervisory Board, today representing 25% of its members.

 

Flix’s second voluntary ESG report is available for download here in its dedicated section on Flix’s corporate website.

 


[1] Compared to 2019 base year.

[2] Employee NPS (Net Promoter Score), being a combined measure of employee satisfaction level, company recommendation, and retention intention. Data from the Peakon surveys conducted over the course of 2023 including Flix Group, excluding Greyhound and Kamil Koç.

[3] Compared to 2019 base year.

[4] The indicator was subject to external independent assurance by ERM Certification and Verification Services Limited. For more details, please refer to 2023 ESG Report here. Additionally, refer to Flix’s 2023 Avoided Emissions reporting criteria, which are based on data sourced from Flix’s Well-to-Wheel analysis by atmosfair (2021), based on 2019 data, business operational data, the German Environmental Agency (2022), the US Environmental Protection Agency (2024), and the UK Government’s Department for Transport (2022) here.

About Flix

Flix intends to transform the public transport sector by offering sustainable and affordable long-distance bus- and train travel solutions in more than 40 countries across four continents. With its asset-light business model and innovative technology platform, Flix has swiftly established a market-leading position for long-distance bus travel in Europe, North America and Türkiye and is rapidly expanding further into South America and India through its brands FlixBus, FlixTrain, Kamil Koç, and Greyhound.
Driven by increased awareness for sustainable travel, Flix aims to become carbon neutral in Europe by 2040 and globally by 2050. To assess its progress within a scientifically recognized framework, Flix established near-term targets for emissions reduction with the Science Based Targets initiative.
While Flix manages the commercial side of the business such as network planning, pricing, operations control, marketing and sales, quality management and continuous product development with a data-driven approach, trusted Flix partners conduct the daily operations. The innovative combination of Flix’s technology and sales platform with traditional passenger travel has turned a European start-up into a leading and globally expanding travel tech company.

For more information, please visit corporate.flix.com