Seen being hailed by their fans as they arrive in coaches provided by BM Coaches and Linburg, at the home of Chelsea Football Club in London, are Champions League superstars, AEK Athens; players, directors, managers and staff. Unusually, despite playing at the Stamford Bridge stadium, Chelsea were not their opposition for their Champions League tie on Wednesday 14 October. Instead, their opposition was Shathkar Donetsk, the Ukrainian Premier League leaders, who in less troubled times, play their home matches at the 52,000-seater Donbas Arena in their home city, from which they were temporarily displaced in 2014. For now, Shathkar play their domestic home-games in Germany, but for their UEFA Champions League matches, they have adopted Stamford Bridge as their “home” ground.

On the night, it was a victory for the Ukrainians. We hope it isn’t the last such outcome, but for now BM Coaches and Linburg wish both teams a successful campaign in the UEFA Champions League and thank them for placing their trust in travel arrangements that were operated by BM Coaches and Linburg.

The UK’s biggest Snow Show, Snow Show London, has celebrated it’s 50^th year in 2026 and to help celebrate, it was joined this year by the Linburg Coach Travel Group. Uniquely placed with branches close to Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, East Midlands and Edinburgh airports, Linburg and sister-Company BM Coaches were promoting their services for UK airport transfers for parties as small as three, as well as the provision of European ski tour transport for larger groups.

Linburg Group staff spent the days explaining their expertise in UK transfers, which has made them the exclusive choice for British Airways crew transfers to and from all UK airports. They also explained how their Vehicle Engineering Division has decades of experience in preparing their long-distance touring coaches for trouble-free Alpine operations and how those vehicles are specified with oil-fired central-heating, double-glazed windows, curtains, carpets, wc/washrooms, usb-charging and much more, to ensure that passenger comfort is assured both as they cruise across the European motorway network as well as once they reach the Alpine resorts.

At Linburg Coach Travel, it is a long-standing tradition to invite the industry-renowned compliance auditors, Lloyd Morgan Group (LMG), to conduct rigorous, independent reviews of our operations. These audits provide an objective assessment of our commitment to safety, professionalism, and quality.

LMG’s “no stone unturned” approach evaluates everything from vehicle maintenance and engineering systems to driver scheduling, training, and management qualifications. We are delighted to announce that in our most recent audit on 23 February 2026, Linburg Coach Travel achieved a perfect 100% score across all categories. This flawless result is a testament to the dedication of the entire Linburg team, offering our clients and passengers total peace of mind whenever they travel with us.

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Linburg Coach Travel Group is pleased to welcome Dave Reay as its new Operations Director – South, effective 1st September.

Bringing extensive experience from previous senior roles in coach travel operations and general management, Mr. Reay will be responsible for overseeing service delivery across all of Linburg’s Southern divisions. This includes touring services, rail-replacement, private-hires, transfers, and contract bus services.

Mr. Reay will be based at the company’s Perivale, London depot, where he will be supported by a newly strengthened 24/7 Operations Team.

Linburg Group’s Director, John Hadaway, stated, “We are thrilled that Dave sees Linburg as the future of coach travel for private groups and the travel trade, and we very much look forward to working together.”

Dave Reay can be contacted directly at dave.reay@linburg.co.uk.

A truly beautiful new addition to our fleet, this 61-seat Neoplan Tourliner was delivered on Monday, 1st September. Just five hours after it was registered, the coach was at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire for driver training.

Like the other Neoplan coaches in our fleet, we’re sure this one will quickly become a favourite with our clients, passengers, drivers, and tour managers. Its luxurious features include reclining seats with fold-down tables, footrests, and three-point seatbelts, along with full climate control, curtains, carpets, double-glazed windows, USB charging, and an infotainment system.

Mercian Tours, based in Tamworth, became part of the Linburg Coach Travel Group in early 2025. It means that Linburg can now offer local, national and international group travel from the West Midlands, as well as bus and coach contract hire in the area. Seen here approaching Wembley Stadium in April is one of a number of Yutong GT12 coaches in the Mercian fleet, wearing its new Linburg-style livery. PSVAR-compliant wheelchair accessibility, 53 luxurious passenger seats, air-conditioning, usb-charging, wc and more make these coaches ideal for rail-replacement, express services, private hires or touring duties.

Linburg Coach Travel is charting a course for expansion following its acquisition of the well-known London operator, BM Coaches, from the BBK Group in February 2025.

BM Coaches brings a substantial operational profile, having served international, national, and local London routes for years across express services, touring, rail-replacement, private-hires, and transfers. Crucially, BM currently holds the prestigious contract to provide British Airways with all crew transfers and flight disruption services at Heathrow Airport and all other UK airports from which BA operates.

Linburg does not plan any major changes to BM’s day-to-day operations. The only notable shifts will be a revised vehicle livery to reflect its new status within the Linburg family and a relocation to Linburg’s new Operating Centre at Perivale, West London.

The company is eager to hear from all private and travel-trade clients, both existing and new. Head of Sales, Shaun Duffy, remains in his role and is ready to receive all group-travel enquiries at shaun@bmcoaches.co.uk

An investment of around £100,000 has seen an automated coach washing facility installed at Linburg’s Sheffield depot. Saving up to 50 minutes per vehicle over the previous manual system, the equipment was supplied by German company, Washtec AG, whose UK base is in Great Dunmow, Essex.

The system ensures the highest standard of vehicle exterior presentation at all times, enabling every bus and coach to be washed as soon as it returns from it’s duty each day, so that they’re all smart and ready for the next days service.

Groundworks for the installation were carried out by local contractor, R. Burkinshaw & Sons and included an underground interceptor that collects all dirt and chemicals from the used water, before recycling up to 70% of it to be used again by the Coach Wash, saving both money and being kinder to the environment.

September saw the delivery of a 74-Registration 63-seat Irizar i6s; the second to join the Linburg fleet in 2024.

In common with the first of the type that joined the fleet earlier in the summer, this fantastic coach has 63 reclining seats with footrests and seat-back tables, usb charging at every seat, double-glazed windows, curtains, carpeting, air-conditioning, central heating, fridge, hot-drinks facility, infotainment system and washroom/wc. The crew benefit from an air-cushioned driver’s seat, second crew-seat and sleeping birth, to ensure that they are fully rested, even on the longest European journey. Additional safety features include ABS, EBS and ASR braking systems, lane departure and collision avoidance systems, confirming Linburg’s place as an operator of the most modern and safest fleet.

Finished in Megabus blue, the coach will initially be deployed on services between Newcastle and London before moving across into Linburg’s British and European touring fleet 2025. Linburg Director, Sarah Noble, is seen here taking delivery of the coach from Stuart Smithson of Irizar UK.

July saw the delivery of a spectacular brand-new Irizar i6s luxury touring coach into the Linburg fleet.

At 14 metres long, it can accommodate 63 passengers in comfort, together with their luggage in the capacious luggage hold. Reclining seats, air-conditioning, central-heating, multi-screen entertainment system, washroom/wc, curtains at all of the double-glazed windows and carpeting, make this an exceptional long-distance touring coach. Safety features that include three-point seatbelts to every seat, asr, ebs and abs braking systems, auxiliary retarder, collision avoidance and lane-monitoring will all help maintain Linburg’s exemplary safety record. The coach even comes with a drivers sleeping birth, so that the second driver can remain fully rested, even on the longest of journeys. If your group includes a wheelchair-bound passenger, that’s covered too; The coach is psvar-compliant, so can accommodate that passenger too!