Lux Express: This year the focus is on expansion in Poland and a move into Prague.

Lux Express’s previous year on international routes was marked by its historic entry into the Finnish market and strong expansion on Latvia’s domestic routes. This year, the focus is on strengthening the Warsaw route, as more and more people are traveling there by bus for major events, as well as making a move to Prague in cooperation with a rail line.

Lux Express, operating on Estonian capital and without state subsidies, carried over half a million passengers on its international routes in 2025. While the total number of passengers remained the same compared to 2024, it is noteworthy that an increasing number of young people (up 5.5%) and older passengers (up 33%) want to travel between cities in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on Lux Express’s comfortable buses. It is also significant that the number of passengers from Estonia on Lux Express’s international routes increased last year (up 3.7%), while the number of Latvian passengers remained the same and the number of Lithuanian passengers slightly decreased.

“The cold and modest first half of the summer of 2025, which affected the entire tourism sector in our region, naturally left its mark on our passenger statistics as well. However, the second half of the summer was more successful and very busy for us, which is why our drivers deserve special recognition for transporting all passengers to their destinations between four countries in July and August,” explained Lux Express Group CEO Ingmar Roos.

Last year’s unexpected magnet was the Tallinn–Riga–Vilnius–Warsaw route, where additional departures were added in the second half of the summer to meet growing passenger demand. “Warsaw in the summer is becoming an increasingly popular destination. As passengers themselves have told us, there are many world-class concerts as well as sports and entertainment events taking place there, and traveling by bus to enjoy them is both convenient and affordable,” Roos said. “This summer alone features a number of concerts there — starting with Sean Paul and Foo Fighters and ending with The Weeknd and Andrea Bocelli — and people have already been asking whether we will be operating the Warsaw route again this summer.”

In response to passenger demand, Lux Express is therefore further strengthening its position on the Warsaw route. While two buses per day currently operate between Tallinn and Warsaw during the autumn–winter season, a third departure will be added in summer — Tallinn–Riga–Kaunas–Warsaw. This route is a couple of hours faster than the others, as it does not detour through Vilnius.

Amid growing interest in travel towards Warsaw, Lux Express is setting its sights even further for 2026. Starting in March, passengers will be able to transfer at Warsaw West Station from Lux Express routes to trains operated by Czech rail company Leo Express, which will take them onward to Kraków in Poland and to Prague and Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

The undisputedly most significant event of 2025 is Lux Express’s entry into the Finnish market. In June, Lux Express Premium-class buses began serving passengers on two long-distance routes, which were so well received that in autumn the familiar buses from Estonia were introduced on two additional routes as well.

According to OnniBus CEO Joona Hurmerinta, cooperation with Lux Express has been very productive and positive. “Our Helsinki–Tampere, Helsinki–Turku, Helsinki–Jyväskylä and Helsinki–Kotka routes, operated under the Lux Express by Onnibus brand, have received excellent feedback from passengers,” Hurmerinta said. “The results so far have given us the confidence to extend the Lux Express by Onnibus service on the Helsinki–Jyväskylä route all the way to Oulu starting in February. This will allow us to offer comfortable and flexible connections even on longer routes and further strengthen our successful cooperation with Lux Express.”

“This may sound unbelievable, but the amenities long familiar to passengers in Estonia and the Baltic States — individual entertainment screens in every seatback, comfortable Relax seats, extra legroom, and hot coffee — have so far been a rarity on Finnish long-distance bus routes,” Roos said. “The success of our expansion into Finland shows that we have created a service concept that is unique not only in the Baltic States but also in the Nordic region and more broadly across Europe. This gives us confidence to continue expanding into the Scandinavian market through franchise partners.”

In the Latvian market, Lux Express also continued strong expansion on domestic routes last year. While in 2024 two routes were successfully launched — Riga–Liepāja and Riga–Daugavpils — last year the Liepāja route was extended to the Lithuanian resort towns of Palanga and Klaipėda.

“We deliberately launched this summer route with the idea that Estonians from Tallinn, Pärnu and Tartu could travel via Riga by bus for holidays in Lithuania’s famous resort towns, which are not accessible from Estonia by plane or train. Today it is clear that we hit the nail on the head — thousands of Estonians discovered the route for themselves last summer,” Roos explained. “Liepāja and Klaipėda are among the most rapidly developing business and tourism areas in the Baltic region. In addition, Liepāja will be a European Capital of Culture next year. As interest is high, we will start operating this route earlier this year, beginning in April.”