Bulgaria will soon experience stagnation in international bus transportation, chair of the association of bus carriers in Bulgaria Ivailo Konstantinov said.

Passengers increasingly turn to low-cost air carriers and it was illogical to believe the number of bus trips will remain unchanged, Konstantinov said.

Aviation companies offered tickets as cheap as 20 to 40 euro for trips to destinations located nearly 2000km away, Konstantinov said as quoted by Focus news agency.

According to predictions international bus travels will decrease by nearly 10 per cent in the coming one or two years.

Starting April 11 Bulgaria will also accept new EU regulations concerning the work and rest time of bus drivers.

The safety regulations say that each one of two bus drivers can remain drive for as much as 56 hours per week. The daily rest increases from eight to nine hours.

A mandatory one-week break will also be introduced.