COVID-19 and Low-Cost Bus Companies in Europe: strategies and customer perception.

The purpose of this work is to assess the operational strategy of FlixBus in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, comparing it to the one from its main bus competitors. This assessment consisted of establishing FlixBus’ positioning and business model and evaluating whether its actions considering the COVID-19 crisis were adherent to their strategy and to customers’ perceptions during the same period. To achieve these goals, FlixBus’ strategy was analysed based on the collection of weekly frequencies from 11 European routes. Additionally, an online survey was designed and administered to European residents to understand their preferences regarding leisure travelling during and after the pandemic. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) followed by a Cluster Analysis (CA) on the survey’s data were also performed to segment customers’ perceptions. The research concludes that FlixBus’ entrepreneurial organization favoured their reaction to the crisis, being able to dynamically react to the demand and other external factors. Also, the analysis of the survey suggested that FlixBus’ strategy was adherent to important market segments, but there might be some opportunities arising from the crisis that could have been exploited by the company. This study also suggests that further analysis is needed to better understand the financial results of the strategy undertaken and the feasibility of given opportunities.