National Express has started selling UK coach tickets as it plans to restart services on 1st July. In a statement released on 15th May, the operator confirmed "we have started selling UK coach tickets for a 1st July re-start – respecting government guidance and advice – of a core coach network that focuses on large and medium-sized conurbations."

This news followed an update from the business that revealed revenue halved in April, compared to the same month last year.

In its April trading update, National Express confirmed that revenue for April is around 50% compared to the same month in 2019 which is in line with the guidance provided to investors during the recent Placing. However, driven by reductions to its monthly operating costs of around £100m along with continued support from governments and customers, the operator generated positive EBITDA, slightly ahead of expectations. This was further boosted by strong cash collections to drive positive cash flow for the month ahead of our expectations  

Recent developments

In addition, there have been further positive developments for National Express as the UK moves out of lockdown:

• North American School Bus: the operator has won its first contract (subject to school board approval) that came to market after the previous operator had the service removed following Covid-19 disruption. This contract is for five years and follows recent stand-out wins in: Boise, Idaho; Fairbanks, Alaska; and, Oakland, California:
• Across North America, National Express has already begun start-up discussions with a large number of school districts, for a return to service at the start of their standard school year; In Quebec, Canada, when schools re-opened last week 80% of students signed-up for school buses immediately.
• ALSA: National Express is seeing lockdown measures being removed in both Spain and Morocco and expect services and demand to increase in both countries in the coming weeks