September 17, 2019 - The popular American Airlines service between Dubrovnik and Philadelphia will run until the end of October next year. 

As many of you are already aware, American Airlines connected Croatia and the United States for the first time in 28 years this year. Namely, the Oneworld member began seasonal operations between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik from June 7, which will run until September 27, 2019. The American Airlines service operates using a 209-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with a capacity of 28 seats in business class and 181 seats in economy class, and Wi-Fi services are available throughout the entire flight.

After the airline already boosted operations this year to add a fourth weekly flight on Sundays in September, the airline has announced they will now slow down next year. 

American Airlines recently announced that it would boost operations between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik for the 2020 summer season. Namely, the OneWorld member will operate the Philadelphia-Dubrovnik route daily in 2020. Seasonal traffic on this route will commence from June 4, 2020, and their daily service will begin from the very start. 

Ex Yu Aviation reported on Tuesday that the end of seasonal traffic for this service would run until October 24. The Boeing 767-300ER aircraft will fly again next year. Tickets are already on sale until mid-July. 

This news, however, comes as no surprise, as the airline’s Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning, Vasu Raja, recently said that the service would run daily and run longer next year. 

American Airlines' Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa Sales, Tom Lattig, said back in April that there could even be additional flights next year. 

"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,” Lattig said. 

Furthermore, the head of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Romana Vlašić, also teased the idea. 

"This pilot project from American Airlines will grow over the coming years to include more American cities as well as new airlines. We have been working intensively on the US market for years and it seems that this work is starting to bear fruit".

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

From next Saturday, Croatia and the United States will be connected for the first time in almost 30 years thanks to a direct flight by American Airlines! Namely, the new seasonal line between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik will operate on the world's largest airline from June 7th, reports Dalmacija Danas and Ex Yu Aviation on June 3, 2019. 

On June 7 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. 

"We constantly evaluate our network to ensure we are maximizing our fleet while matching customer demand. It was a result of this process that we were able to add the fourth weekly frequency in September. The summer of 2019 represents a major strategic overhaul in our transatlantic network. In terms of [available seat miles] and seats, we are growing more than our competitors, due to drivers such as increased departures, stage length and gauge increase,” American Airlines added. 

The Croatian Tourist Board is also pleased. 

"By cooperating with airlines through our program of strategic promotional campaigns on key markets, we position Croatia as an attractive and well connected year-round destination. We are particularly excited about the new intercontinental service between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik which will link us with the US market for the first time in almost thirty years,” said director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristjan Stančić, who also announced a promotional and marketing campaign with a budget of 5.3 million euro for all all joint marketing activities in 2019. 

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