Over the last 75 years, family-owned company Demy Schandeler has become well-established in the bus premier league of Luxembourg. In a fleet of around 450 buses, all fifteen of the company’s touring coaches bear the red Setra K logo on the front – and now they have three more. Each bus is painted in a different, striking colour, giving each vehicle an unmistakable character.

“Roughly fifteen years ago, our managing director Laurent Schandeler said that having all our buses the same colour was simply no longer up to date and not a very attractive sales strategy”, says Dominique Schandeler. Mr Schandeler inherited the first name of his grandfather and company founder (nicknamed Demy) and now manages three of the company’s sites, one of which is even located abroad in Arlon, Belgium. "Our buses used to have identical gold livery, but this was similar to one of our major competitors. Since then, it has been our Managing Director Laurent Schandeler’s personal passion to choose a special colour for every bus and to give it a fitting name."

The three new additions from Neu-Ulm illustrate this dramatic customisation concept very well: the 12.73-metre S 515 HDH with 44 seats is painted Irish Green, the high-capacity, 13.56-metre S 516 HDH with 48 seats glows in striking Madagascar Orange and the company’s first new double-decker, an S 531 DT and the 100,000th bus to be painted in Neu-Ulm, shines in breathtaking Indigo Blue (all dimensions with analogue exterior mirrors).

All buses are configured as the company's own First Class Edition. These offer upscale four-star comfort and even include a TopSky panoramic glass roof. The comfortable seats with height-adjustable head restraints are positioned slightly offset to give passengers sitting in the aisle a clearer view and create a greater sense of space. “The feedback from our customers is excellent. One plus point is that the knees of seat neighbours touch less”, says Dominique Schandeler.

Their three new additions all feature the latest safety systems available on the market. For example, the TopClass high-deckers are equipped with Active Drive Assist 2, which in addition to active lane guidance also provides a partially automated driving function in line with SAE Level 2 (international standard for automation with levels 1 to 5) and an innovative Emergency Stop Assist function. The new GSR legislation that will become binding in July 2024 does not require all three systems, but the Setra brand features them all nevertheless – the first to do so. This elevated level of safety fits perfectly with the premium standards of company founder Demy Schandeler and his successors.

In recent decades, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has earned the reputation of being the top bus country in Europe. A special feature of this success story are the large, family-run bus operator dynasties, a group in which the travel company Demy Schandeler undoubtedly belongs. It was founded in 1949 by Dominique (Demy) Schandeler, the grandfather of today’s managing directors Joël, Gaston and Laurent Schandeler. The company has been developed at a local level over the decades and has specialised in passenger transport to “become a major player at national level”.

In January, Demy Schandeler got their milestone anniversary year rolling with an Anniversary Tourism Fair at their headquarters in Keispelt, at which guests could, of course, admire some of the new buses. After all, the comfortable and safe buses of the Neu-Ulm-based premium brand are an essential part of Demy Schandeler’s all-round well-being concept expressed in their company motto “Reesen a Wuelfillen”.