The long-distance bus operator Flixbus hopes that it will be included in the 49-euro ticket in Germany and in the climate ticket in Austria. According to a company spokesman, we are in “good discussions” with the politically responsible people in this regard.

In contrast to Germany, Flixbus does not hold a single national route concession in Austria. Blaguss Reisen is the concessionaire for the domestic routes that have now been discontinued Klagenfurt-Vienna and Graz-Linz and Graz-Salzburg. Dr. Richard holds the permits Graz-Vienna and Graz-Vienna Airport. Both companies criticize the fact that the Ministry of Transport is not interested in including national long-distance bus connections in the climate ticket. For economic reasons, Blaguss Reisen has discontinued the routes and no longer sees any possibility of operating such routes on its own to be included in the climate ticket. Also Dr. Richard reports from the decline in passenger numbers.

Since the Flixbus brand is owned by both Blaguss Reisen and Dr. Richard is only used as a sales brand on the inner Austrian routes, but the entire operation is carried out independently, the German group's ability to influence is very limited anyway. At best, you should have a say in sales issues.

Flixbus wants to grow permanently, but no plans for Austria

According to a Flixbus spokesman, there are only national routes in Austria from Graz via Pinggau to Vienna or to Vienna-Schwechat Airport. These are provided by the bus company Dr. Richard, which holds the concession. The competitor Blaguss Reisen has its Flixbus routes within Austria abandoned a few weeks ago.

When asked what Flixbus' official view is on the fact that in Austria you are just as excluded from the climate ticket as you are in Germany from the 49-euro ticket, a spokesman told Aviation.Direct: “Long-distance buses would bring great added value as a particularly sustainable mode of transport Bring passengers into the climate ticket (AT and D). We are in good discussions with politicians, unfortunately there is nothing more to say at the moment.”

The question of whether there would be a noticeable decline in booking numbers was answered as follows: “Any permanent non-consideration in the Deutschlandticket/Klimaticket will have no impact on our plans to continue to grow profitably globally. The impact on booking numbers is limited to isolated lines”.

Flixbus doesn't want to complain - No news about Flixtrain from Stuttgart to Vienna

However, according to the media representative, Flixbus does not want to go to court in either Austria or Germany due to the exclusion from the network cards. The spokesman also confirmed that there is not a single case pending in both countries in this regard. Not surprisingly: Blaguss Reisen and Dr. Richard is not planning any new Flixbus routes within Austria as these are now difficult or even impossible to sustain economically, as holders of the climate ticket in particular do not want to pay extra. The Flixbus media officer says: “There are currently no plans to add further national lines in Austria”.

Some time ago it became known that the Flixtrain brand was registered with the regulatory authorities in Germany and Austria Allocation of paths for train connections between Vienna and Stuttgart were applied for. After initial euphoria in the media, the issue was equally about the Regiojet routes applied for and allocated between Vienna and Munich very quiet, not to say that it was never heard from again.

When asked about this, the Flix spokesman told Aviation.Direct: “We always look at expansion opportunities with FlixTrain, but there is currently nothing to say about this specific route.” The question of whether the plans for the route mentioned were shelved has not been answered.