Toivo J. Honkanen, founder of the Savonlinja Group, was only 24 years old when he started a bus service using a brand new T-Ford between Lappeenranta and Lauritsala in 1924. At the end of the 1920s, Toivo J. Honkanen moved to Mikkeli, and his business began to expand. Before the Second World War, Savonlinja Oy had more buses than any other bus company in Finland.

At the end of the 1950s, Raimo O. Honkanen, the current Managing Director, took over the company. The company has been expanding through acquisitions since the 1970s, and now the 80-year-old family-owned enterprise is the second largest bus company in Finland. The Savonlinja Group is the foremost bus operator in Eastern Finland and also has a strong foothold in public transport in Southern Finland. In addition to Eastern Finland, the Group’s primary business areas include the Helsinki region and the Turku region with its environment. Regular bus services also transport passengers from Helsinki and Jyväskylä via Vyborg to St Petersburg in Russia. In recent years, the Savonlinja Group has profiled as the transport operator of large-scale events. The service range of the Savonlinja Group encompasses urban and commuter transport, municipal service buses, rural services, school transport, ExpressBus express services, versatile tourist services, and high-quality charter services.

The Savonlinja Group employs some 700 bus traffic professionals in 13 different points of operation. The Group has approx. 500 buses.