In October 2004, London Buses awarded Metrobus the contract to operate route X26, with effect from the following April. A limited stopping service between Croydon and Heathrow Airport, this replaced most of route 726, one of the last former Green Line services to operate across. South London, which had most recently been operated by Tellings Golden Miller. With 28 Scania OmniCities already in the Metrobus fleet for Fastway services in Crawley and also for Orpington route 358, this type of vehicle was an obvious choice. Fleet number 543 represents the batch of five purchased, which differ from the other batches in being single door and have additional luggage racks to cater for the high number of tourists / air passengers using the route. This batch of vehicles was the first to be delivered new in allover red and with the now familiar silver logos, as had already been seen on the latest repaints for TfL contracts. The batch moved from the former East Surrey depot at South Godstone, to the new depot in Croydon, in February 2006.