Just two days before American Airlines lands in Dubrovnik, connecting the United States and Croatia for the first time in 28 years, Croatia's Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli expressed that this hopefully won’t be the only route from the US and that Zagreb could see love from the Big Apple soon, reports Ex Yu Aviation on June 6, 2019. 

"Following the arrangement with American Airlines between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik this summer, which will act as a trial run, we are already in advanced talks for the introduction of a nonstop service from New York to Zagreb. I hope that we will have this route operational next summer. The service to Zagreb will most likely be seasonal during its first year of operations, while year-round flights could commence as early as the second year. As a result, we would have seasonal flights from the United States to Dubrovnik and year-round operations to Zagreb,” said Cappelli to HRT. 

You might also recall that Zagreb Airport General Manager Huseyin Bahadir Bedir is also keen on connecting the two destinations.

"New York is a destination we are focusing on. We are in talks with airlines and we expect for the route to be launched. However, a bit more patience is required for a final agreement to be reached on when the flights will commence and who will be the operating carrier. Long haul flights are very demanding for airlines, both operationally and financially, and therefore they must be carefully planned. There are some airports in Europe which are two or three times larger than ours but have no long haul flights operated by some of the world's leading carriers. We have set the bar high in attracting some of the world's best airlines to Zagreb, with nonstop services to North America and Asia. Our aim is to have a quality and long-term relationship with each airline we cooperate with".

It seems that all talks are positive ahead of the American Airlines flight, and it is even more apparent that this route certainly won’t stand alone. The world’s largest airline has even said it is open to the possibility of connecting the US and Croatian further. 

"Wherever we see opportunities and demand, we'll go. As with the opening of our Dubrovnik - Philadelphia line, we are very specific about demand. Central Europe has the greatest growth potential. We are preparing to add more and more new links. We want to continue to lead the market. We will look closely at the results for the first year of operations. We are always looking at new opportunities to grow our network to ensure we offer service to where our customers wish to go,” the airline said. 

From next Saturday, American Airlines will connect Croatia and the United States for the first time in almost 30 years as the seasonal line between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik will begin.

On June 7th at 18:10 local time, passengers will travel on the 209-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft from the Philadelphia international airport, and will land in Dubrovnik at 9:30 am the next day. The flight duration is 9 hours and 15 minutes. The first flight from Dubrovnik to Philadelphia takes off on June 8th at 11:40 am and is 10 hours and 25 minutes.

"American Airlines is very pleased with the bookings for our new flight between Dubrovnik and Philadelphia. While it is performing in line with our expectations, it is too early for us to comment on our 2020 summer schedule as that planning process is still being done,” the airline said to Ex Yu Aviation. 

Flights to Dubrovnik will run on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and from Dubrovnik on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Mondays. Recall, bookings were so good on this route that American Airlines announced they had to boost operations back in April. Namely, in September, the service will operate four times a week until the end of the month. 

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As Croatia gears up for the highly anticipated American Airlines flight between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik this year, the country also has plans to be connected to the United States for longer than the summer months, and namely from Croatia’s capital. 

As Ex-Yu Aviation reports on March 25, 2019, the newly formed organization VisitUSA Croatia hopes to expand operations between Croatia and the US. 

"We are primarily looking to secure services between Zagreb and New York as this route would fuel travel between the two countries, however, at this point, we do not have any concrete announcements for a new year-round service. This will only happen if a number of stakeholders get involved in the project. Croatia is a regional tourism powerhouse and we must also use this advantage to position ourselves as a leader in outbound US travel for the entire region,” said VisitUSA Croatia. 

Robert Kohorst, the US Ambassador to Croatia, is also a fan of the idea. 

"This new nonstop service between the USA and Croatia sends a strong and positive message to the tourism sector. I am hopeful that all of the planned nonstop flights this summer will be full and that it will lead to the launch of new routes, which will, in turn, generate additional tourism and business exchange". 

The Croatian Embassy in Washington even said that they hope to achieve direct flights “as soon as it is economically possible." 

Tourism heads in Croatia also welcome the news. Recall, Gari Cappelli, Croatia’s Minister of Tourism, stated that the new American Airlines route would be only the start. The Ministry even introduced the new project "Positioning Croatia as an airline destination,” which primarily aims to attract carriers from distance markets. The project is worth 8 million euro, and in 2020, the budget should double. 

Until anything further is confirmed, Croatia will have to live with its connection to Philadelphia, which has already shown impressive bookings. 

"We have been negotiating the Philadelphia service with American Airlines for years. Advanced bookings have so far been excellent and the Dubrovnik Tourism Board has launched a marketing campaign in the States,” Dubrovnik Tourist Board director Romana Vlašić concluded.

Read the full story on Ex-Yu Aviation. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.