As Michał Leman says, you can travel from Poland with FlixBus to 22 countries. This is a record for the network – even Germany (the country where the network originated) does not have many connections.
– But the destination most appreciated by Poles is Poland itself – notes in an interview with Business Insider. Where exactly were we going last season?
– In summer, the seaside was very popular, but also the mountains and intercity connections between the main centres. We want to go sightseeing, even if the stay is not very long. This year, stays were generally shorter, mainly due to inflation. So it does not have to be a trip to the seaside for a week, or, for example, to Lublin or Zamosc for the weekend – says the Managing Director of the company in our market.
Which foreign destinations are most often chosen? – Germany has always been number one here. Then the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Slovakia and Austria. As for Ukraine, we have seen very clearly that migrants take advantage of their holidays to visit the areas from which they came. On the other hand, the Czech Republic is a good example of a holiday destination for quick sightseeing. An exceptionally popular destination here is of course Prague. Because of its proximity, it’s a great place, and it’s still affordable, Lehman says.
When it comes to the most popular foreign cities, we definitely visit Germany’s capital most often by bus. – For many reasons – it is a popular city with many attractions, and many Poles live there, so we often visit family or friends there. But Berlin is also a big hub for FlixBus. However, if we remove them, we have about 20 cities that are more or less equally popular – Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt… – points out Michel Lehmann.
The network recently launched a direct connection to Finland. Although the company does not disclose detailed data, it confirms that the combination is successful. – The most popular route on this route is Warsaw-Helsinki. It is clear that Finns really want to travel to Poland. The reception of this route in Finland itself has been so great that they have ceased to feel like an island, which of course they are not. Because in addition to air connections with mainland Europe, they mainly have ferry connections. We have given you the opportunity to travel easily by bus. The first line between Poland and Finland is one of the best starts we’ve ever had at FlixBus – We hear from the director.
The rest of the article is below the video
What will be the next communications?
There are no specific statements yet. – We are definitely developing the network towards the Baltic Sea, we have also increased the frequency of connections there and added a Romanian direction – You can reach Bucharest via really picturesque roads in Transylvania. We will definitely add connections in our part of Europe. There’s still plenty of room for us. We will announce the new network in early spring next year – declares our interlocutor.
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However, the network does not rule out further contacts between Poland and Ukraine. He confirms that our offer towards Ukraine is four times greater than it was before the total war. Currently, the furthest you can get from Poland is Poltava and Odessa.
However, it is not clear whether we will see FlixTrain trains actually operating in some markets. FlixTrain’s plan is to be a European network of cheap and accessible railway lines. Poland is also taken into account, but we see what the liberalization of the railway market looks like in our country. Therefore, it seems to me that we will have to wait a little longer for competition on Polish railways – and this applies not only to FlixTrain, but also to other operators – says Lehmann.
The Polish president of FlixBus believes that in our market the main competition for long-distance buses is not railways, but simply the private car.
– When it comes to railways, it is not competitive in Poland, especially when it comes to journey times. On the Warsaw-Rzeszow route, for example, we are faster than Pendolino. Taking into account the number of cars per inhabitant in Warsaw and other European capitals, we have three or four times that number. Therefore, it is important to convince as many people as possible to use public transportation. Whether it’s a train or a bus, it doesn’t matter much – says Lyman.
Author: Mateusz Madejski, journalist at Business Insider Polska
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