The Sydney-Melbourne train, run by state operator NSW TrainLink, routinely sells out during the summer period, even when adding extra carriages.
Lefranc-Morin believes these trends show a hunger for an alternative to expensive air travel, especially among families as well as budget-minded younger Australians and tourists.
While he acknowledges FlixBus trips in Australia will be very long, he is confident they will stand out by entering the Australian market with clean, modern and more comfortable buses with features such as Wi-Fi, charging capabilities and a toilet standard on all buses.
“This type of travel is very appealing for families who have pressure on their budgets and for seniors with a lot of time who love slow travel.
“We also think we can attract the Australians that are just a bit bored [with] paying a high price to airlines or who don’t want to take their cars on a long trip,” he said.
Standardised consistent vehicles – which will include seat layouts more comfortable than the company’s European buses due to the greater distances on routes in Australia – will set FlixBus apart as a more luxe offering in a coach scene that is not known for its glamour, Lefranc-Morin said.
“[We will have] the most modern fleet of buses on Australian roads that you can find,” he said.
The interior of a FlixBus vehicle in its overseas fleet. The company has said its Australian buses will have slightly different layouts “designed with the utmost comfort”.
When factoring in airport transfers and costs, as well as time spent in security and waiting, FlixBus believes it can appeal to more Australians, especially those living away from major airports. Services will make some suburban stops – Sydney tickets will offer drop off and pick up in the northern suburb of Berowra, for example – while stops between destinations will service regional Australians.
“We will have more options, in terms of locations, in terms of stops,” Lefranc-Morin said. “We also want a different travel experience. The product itself is different, very fresh and modern coach travel, with more options.”
Seat layouts will be “designed with the utmost comfort”, he said.
Asset-light business model
Flix has become a giant in global transport over the past decade. It acquired Greyhound in the United States, and has also grown into train services, for now just in Germany. Flix is backed by a range of private equity investors.
In 2024, Swedish private equity group EQT together with Kühne Holding, the Swiss investment vehicle of Germany’s richest man Klaus-Michael Kühne, acquired a 35 per cent stake in Flix. Car maker Porsche also holds a stake in the company, which has been valued at about $US3 billion ($4.6 billion).
In line with its proven asset-light business model, FlixBus will partner with local Australian bus companies that will provide services with vehicles that meet Flix’s feature requirements and design.
The business model allows Flix, which describes itself as a hybrid tech and transport company, to focus on marketing and commercial management, including its ticket-selling app and booking platform, which Lefranc-Morin believes will impress Australians with its ease of use.
“You can book a Flix ticket in two to three clicks, in about 30 seconds. You can then track the bus as you are waiting for it,” he said.
At this stage, the company is coy on specifics. Flix will aim to be “the most competitive option”; for context, Greyhound’s Sydney-Melbourne tickets start at $129 while the train starts at $83.
In terms of frequency, it will initially be similar to that of existing coach operators. “We are not going to start with 10 frequencies a day between Melbourne and Sydney, but it might be our ultimate goal. In a lot of markets, we start with one or two services a day.”
It’s an approach that has seen successful expansion to the United States, Canada, India and Brazil in recent years. “When Flix enters a market, the overall demand for coach travel increases,” Lefranc-Morin said. “We are optimistic we can grow the market [in Australia].”
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Sustainability is also another way for FlixBus to stand out, Lefranc-Morin said. The average coach trip between Sydney and Melbourne has an emissions footprint of about 17 kilograms of CO₂ per person – far less than the 76 kilograms per train rider, 105 kilograms per car passenger and 185 kilograms per air traveller, according to Grattan Institute research.
“We see this trend already becoming a big thing in the other Western countries we operate in. We have more customers taking the coach because it’s the sustainable option,” he said.
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