“Flix is a unique company, world leader in its category, occupying an extremely large market
,” said André Schwämmlein, the co-founder and CEO of Flixbus, on Thursday, February 29, on the occasion of the publication of its preliminary financial results. for 2023. Last year, no less than 81 million passengers traveled to more than 5,600 destinations with FlixBus, FlixTrain, Greyhound and Kamil Koc.
An increase of 34% compared to 2022, a year during which 61 million people were supported by the group.
Furthermore, Flix achieved an adjusted Ebitda of 104 million euros, an increase of 97 million euros compared to 2022.
Record figures which owe nothing to chance, according to André Schwämmlein, who cites several of the great successes of the year.
First and foremost the launch of the Flixbus offer in Chile,
“the most successful of all time with proven market entry”
and
“growing demand”
.
The CEO also mentioned the group's arrival in India, the second largest market in the world, where "sleeper"
buses
have been specifically designed to serve 46 cities in the north of the country.
He also returned to the FlixTrain offer, launched in Germany, which continues its rise with a 35% increase in the number of travelers in 2023, and 31 new stops served.
Finally, far from being trivial, the Turkish market alone represents 18% of travelers.
That is 14 million people supported last year for a market up 8%, generating a total turnover of 189 million euros.
Active in 41 countries (France, United States, Greece, etc.), the company, which has now diversified with a rail offering in Germany and Sweden, is continuing its journey forward: more than ten years after its created in 2013, it has grown from 136 destinations to more than 5,600 in 2022 and is finally generating an operational profit.
“Our good annual results show that the strategy we have been implementing for eleven years is the right one
,” notes André Schwämmlein, who today believes that
“last year's performance strengthens Flix's position as a world leader of the traveltech sector.
And on the strength of this success, he does not intend to stop there and now has the ambition to
“strengthen (his) position as a world leader, by promoting sustainable and affordable travel for all”
and this, in particular, by relying on cutting-edge technological tools.
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Optimization and profitability
On this subject, the group's CEO presented a new optimization system generated by mathematical calculations and tested on the Flixbus network in Spain.
A method now approved which makes it possible to optimize the filling of each vehicle and thus go from 4 to 3 buses in circulation, without changing the timetables, nor the number of passengers supported, nor the offer offered to them.
As a result, the number of empty spaces decreases, drivers' schedules are adapted accordingly and the use of each vehicle increases.
Enough to increase the profitability of the entire chain, rejoices the co-founder of Flix.
In addition, the group wants to increase from 2 to 3 the number of possible interconnections for the same route.
Concretely, from Portugal to Germany, we can for example then reach Italy, Romania or Bulgaria.
The group's objective?
“Significantly increase supply and connect more remote areas to major European cities”
.
It will thus be possible to continue your journey throughout Europe from
“700 predefined stations”
, based on the model of what Flixbus already does in the United States, where the company has acquired the legendary Greyhound brand.
An approach which may prove profitable since Europe still generates the vast majority of trips made by the group, with 68% of tickets sold, and represents its largest market ahead of Turkey (18%) and North America. (14%).
A stable trend, on which the group continues to focus, but which could potentially evolve towards other regions, with the continued expansion of the group internationally.
In South America but also in India in particular, where Flixbus now offers 200 daily connections to 46 cities, including Delhi, Lucknow, Jodhpur and Varanasi and intends to offer new connections, including in the south of the country, starting this year .