Newsroom Press Releases

15. April 2022

FlixBus supports Ukraine

++ This page was lastly updated on 24/06/2022
++ FlixBus expands Ukraine offer
++ Flix joins UA talents

UPDATE: FlixBus and its bus partners have been providing humanitarian aid since the attack on Ukraine as mobility is more important than ever for people in and from Ukraine. FlixBus has never completely stopped its service to Ukraine. In addition to offering more connections and free rides for refugees, the company and its partners also transported tons of relief supplies for people in need. FlixBus’ priority was always to provide immediate and unbureaucratic aid where and when it was needed the most. The first step was to offer free rides to refugees at the Ukrainian-Polish border in Przemyśl and Rzeszów and later expand this support to Suceava and Tulcea in Romania.

Until mid-June, 6,000 vouchers were donated by Flix employees and management, providing travel options for people fleeing Ukraine. In the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen significant changes to this demand, leading to the decision to terminate the free voucher program from the border cities and shifting our focus to meet the new demand.

We stand with Ukraine, and in response, we’ve enhanced our offer to provide more services, keeping prices affordable, and ramping up the network. In total, 10 direct international FlixBus routes are now available for travelers from Ukraine to Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary.

Our dedicated teams are keeping a close eye on the situation, and we’re ready to react with further support in case the circumstances in Ukraine change.

 

FlixBus expands Ukraine offer

As of April 14th FlixBus resumes routes to Kyiv as well as to Zhytomyr, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Uman, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil. From April 28th FlixBus offers a new line from Kyiv to Budapest. From June 23rd a new direct FlixBus line will connect Kyiv and Wroclaw. In total, 10 direct international FlixBus routes are now available for travelers from Ukraine to Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. As flow of people travelling out of Ukraine is still quite stable, and in the same time the number of people traveling to Ukraine continues to grow, it was an additional reason to enhance our offer to provide more opportunities for people to move.

From the day we had to cease most of the lines due to safety reasons, we were constantly monitoring safety and road infrastructure conditions. Now together with our bus partners we decided that the situation allows us to open certain lines. FlixBus continues to monitor the situation constantly with the utmost care and is in close contact with its bus partners.

 

Flix joins UA talents

On March 8th, Flix joins UA talents, a job platform launched by two Berlin-based Ukrainian entrepreneurs that supports displaced persons from and within Ukraine in finding jobs. On UA talents, companies from all over Europe can advertise their job openings to people from Ukraine who have lost their employment due to the war. Initially focusing on jobs within the technology sector, UA talents plans to branch out to other sectors quickly. More information can be found on https://www.uatalents.com/press-release.

 

Buspartners are helping

As of Friday 25/02/2022, the Czech Buscompany and FlixBus Partner “Umbrella Coach&Buses” has been working extremely hard to help Ukraine refugees by independently providing transportation from/to the Polish-Ukrainian and Slovakian-Ukrainian border. Pavel Steiner’s team is doing their utmost to support working closely together with the international red cross and the Czech consulate to coordinate onward transport and allocation of refugees in busses. Steiner has called for donations of relief supplies via social media and is collecting them centrally at its headquarters in Prague. In addition to these private donations, he also ensures necessities such as water, blankets, and hygiene products are available where needed, which he provides at his own costs. FlixBus is very proud of the initiative taken by its longtime bus partner.

 

FlixBus provides relief supplies

Starting from March 3rd, FlixBus also transports goods and relief supplies to the people in need. Our buses now also bring water and food to and, above all, across the border into Ukraine to supply those who have been waiting there for days.

Furthermore, on Wednesday 9th of March, Axel Springer and FlixBus collaborated for a donation collection in Berlin. 25 tons were compiled by the population and companies such as ALDI, Fressnapf, P&G. The supplies were transported to Przemyśl, close to the Ukrainian-Polish border on Thursday, 10th of March with a truck and a FlixBus. The bus is returning on Friday, 11th of March with 50 people, among them women, children, and elderly who are brought to Leipzig and Berlin. The relief supplies, including food and bandages, reached the Caritas camp in Lviv on Saturday, 12th of March.

 

Free FlixBus-tickets for refugees departing from Przemyśl, Rzeszów, Suceava and Tulcea

FlixBus offers free rides for refugees from Suceava, Tulcea, Przemyśl and Rzeszów. 1,000 free rides were collected within the first 15 hours through an employee initiative and doubled by the FlixBus management. This corresponds to around 40 buses. Now the number has already multiplied. We are monitoring the situation closely and if necessary we will increase the number of tickets and journeys. All current connections can be viewed at www.flixbus.com.

 

FlixBus for United Nations and Ukrainian children

On Friday, March 4th and Saturday March 5th upon the request of United Nations, FlixBus together with its bus partners has provided humanitarian transport support for 500 children and their minders. The groups of children were brought to the Polish-Ukrainian border from orphanages located in high-risk areas in Ukraine, including Kharkiv and Odessa. In total, 12 FlixBus buses were provided to transport them from Dorohusk further to Poland. All of them are now in a safe place. See more info and pictures here.

 

Welcoming Ukrainian refugees

On Wednesday, 9th of March, a chartered Romanian plane with women and children from Ukraine arrived at the Munich airport. They were welcomed by Flix employees who provided them with food and drinks sponsored by EDEKA, as well as toys and soap bubbles to give a warm welcome to the children. After being registered with authorities, they were transported to a temporary shelter by the State of Bavaria in Munich using FlixBuses of our bus partner Grüner. Radio Gong ensured that everyone had a place to stay in the evening.

 

Transportation to Isai airport

FlixBus has joined forces with Chamäleon, Berge & Meer, Itravel, Wunderflats, and the Together for Social Solidarity Foundation Ukraine to provide emergency aid. From the embattled city of Odessa in the south of Ukraine, it is currently almost impossible to reach the border with Poland. To provide immediate help, evacuation flights from Isai to Frankfurt are conducted. Flixbus takes care of the transfer from Piatra Neamt to Iasi airport. On March 18, the first charter plane with 187 refugees took off from Isai in Romania to Frankfurt.

About Flix

Flix intends to transform the public transport sector by offering sustainable and affordable long-distance bus- and train travel solutions in more than 40 countries across four continents. With its asset-light business model and innovative technology platform, Flix, launched in 2013 swiftly established a market-leading position for long-distance bus travel in Europe, North America and Türkiye and is rapidly expanding further into South America and India through its brands FlixBus, FlixTrain, Kamil Koç, and Greyhound.

Driven by increased awareness for sustainable travel, Flix aims to become carbon neutral in Europe by 2040 and globally by 2050. To assess its progress within a scientifically recognized framework, Flix established near-term targets for emissions reduction with the Science Based Targets initiative.

While Flix manages the commercial side of the business such as network planning, pricing, operations control, marketing and sales, quality management and continuous product development with a data-driven approach, trusted Flix partners conduct the daily operations. The innovative combination of Flix’s technology and sales platform with traditional passenger travel has turned a European start-up into a leading and globally expanding travel tech company.

For more information, please visit corporate.flix.com