The bus operator FlixBus (Germany) will resume operations in Ukraine on separate international routes from June 25.
According to the company’s press service, tickets are already on sale for trips from Kyiv via Zhytomyr, Rivne, Lviv, Uzhgorod to Krakow, Budapest, Vienna and more than a dozen German cities, and from July 3 green branded buses will travel from Odesa via Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky and Ternopil to Plzen through Prague.
“So far we have renewed part of our routes from Ukraine, but we plan to gradually restore them all. Closing the borders has become a challenge for the entire industry of international transportation, but even taking into account severe restrictions on the borders with the EU countries that exist now, we see a demand for trips to the countries of Europe. First of all, these are Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic,” the press service said citing director of FlixBus in Ukraine and Poland Michal Leman.
The Ecolines international bus service, which includes the Ukrainian Autolux service, will resume trips from Kyiv to Warsaw and Szczecin (Poland) starting from June 18.
As the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine, the company will gradually resume trips on other international routes.
Moreover, the company said that Autolux has already resumed regular bus service from Kyiv to Odesa, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, Poltava, Kherson and Kropyvnytsky.
“There is a demand for routes in the western direction, but so far we cannot start trips to Lviv due to the epidemiological situation in the region,” the company said.
Ukraine International Airline (UIA) jointly with ATASS-Boryspil bus operator (earlier it carried passengers from the Boryspil international airport to the central railway station of Kyiv) launched intermodal transportation between Vinnytsia and Boryspil International Airport, the press service of the UIA has reported.
The UIA combined services connecting Vinnytsia and Kyiv are operated daily on Neoplan buses. Buses depart from Terminal D, Boryspil International Airport, at 20:25, and Terminal Square, Vinnytsia airport, at 03:00.
“UIA baggage and hand baggage allowance applies to this type of travelling. Meanwhile, passengers are not required to check-in their luggage for the bus service. Animals, bulky sporting equipment, non-folding wheelchairs, and weapons are not permitted for transportation by bus,” the press service said.
The press service said that this is the first time UIA launches an intermodal service. The intermodal service is successfully provided by some European airlines.
The BlaBlaBus bus low-cost carrier, founded by the world’s largest international online service of the search for automobile travel companions BlaBlaCar (France), plans to enter the Ukrainian market. “Our first BlaBlaBus bus route has already been launched in Germany. We plan to connect 60 cities across Germany and Benelux with our routes in the first year of operation. Then we will expand the BlaBlaBus coverage to the whole of Europe. In our non-European markets where we have already started connecting professional bus carriers to our platform, we will also redouble our efforts in this direction, with a focus on Russia, Ukraine and Latin America,” co-founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar Nicolas Brusson said in an interview for the Journal.Octobus magazine.
According to him, the BlaBlaBus service will help reduce the number of cars on the roads, as well as reduce the cost of travel.
BlaBlaBus launched its first bus route in Germany on June 11, 2019. In 2018, BlaBlaCar bought the French carrier Ouibus, on the basis of which BlaBlaBus was created. Before the merger, the French service had more than 300 bus routes around Europe.
BlaBlaCar (France) is the world’s largest international online service of the search for automobile travel companions, it was founded in 2006. The company operates in 22 countries, the total clientele of the project exceeds 70 million people.
BlaBlaCar entered the Ukrainian market in early 2014, having bought the Ukrainian startup Podorozhniki.
