NEW DELHI- a month after starting operations, European bus travel company FlixBus is watching an aggressive growth path for the Indian market to double its network within the next year. Surya Khurana, Managing Director of FlixBus India said that they have started a star network that presently connects Delhi to nine different destinations which covers 46 cities along the way and to the southern part of the country, we want to expand and double down on this network.
Khurana also said that the company is aiming at Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka where there is a high demand for corporate and leisure travel. The company, which runs close to 6,000 active buses globally, presently connects Delhi with Lucknow, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Rishikesh, Manali, Haridwar, Agra, Varanasi and Mathura. Buoyed by improved road infrastructure in the country and digitization of toll payment methods, Khurana said for bus transportation in India the company expects strong growth momentum. For the moment, FlixBus wants to mainly focus on the air-conditioned sleeper segment based on its popularity, but it will grow the air-conditioned seater category as well.
India has the largest addressable bus market in the world. Currently, the market is very fragmented. Many small operators have a fleet of 10-20 buses but there is no unified India-wide brand that people can consider, says Khurana. In Munich, which was launched in 2011, the Germany-based company has a presence in 43 countries across Asia, South America, North America, and Europe. Flix SE, which owns FlixBus, also operates Greyhound Lines, FlixCar, Flixtrain, and Turkey-based Kâmil Koç, which is the largest inter-city bus service provider in North America. The company brings on board third-party bus operators as well as the staff on a contract and takes over the operations including additional training for the bus drivers and conductors and rebranding the buses.
Hence, Flixbus operates buses or, most of the time, handles customer service, pricing, and marketing for a commission, on behalf of bus operators. As per the company’s latest financial results for 2023, Flix reported a 30% growth in total revenue in (calendar year) 2023 at €2 billion. This was higher than its guidance of more than 25% for the year. 81 million passengers traveled with Flix platforms last year, compared to over 60 million in 2022, recording a growth rate of 34%.
Based on our tech foundation, we want to strengthen our position as a global leader, driving sustainable and affordable travel for everyone, says André Schwämmlein, co-founder and chief executive officer. In India, the establishment has so far built its hub at Delhi’s Kashmiri Gate bus depot, which also has a Flix lounge to support voyagers.
While the company is assessing the launch of Wi-Fi services on board, it presently offers charging points, gender seating (that is, seats next to women will be automatically reserved for other females), a 24×7 occurrence response team, a traffic regulator ward, and two-point seat belts for all seats. A report jointly produced by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Grant Thornton Bharat says the compounded yearly growth rate for state transport undertakings (STUs) is 6.36% and 7.37% for private buses.
According to the report which was launched in February 2024, found out that, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra are the main markets in state transport undertakings, constituting almost 70% of the market share. The top 5 states in the total address market for private buses are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana, which are likely to account for about 45% share by 2026.
