August 31, 2019 - After Philadelphia, is an American Airlines connection between Chicago and Dubrovnik on the horizon?

American Airlines connected the United States and Croatia for the first time in almost 30 years with their seasonal service between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik this summer. Recall, the Oneworld member began operations between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik from June 7, which will run until September 27, 2019. The airline will actually add a fourth weekly flight on Sundays in September and already announced that there is no slowing down next year. Thus, American Airlines will operate the Philadelphia-Dubrovnik route daily in 2020, which will commence on June 4, 2020.

“Dubrovnik went really, really well for us. We can connect 95% of the United States over Philadelphia, and [at] none of our competitors’ operations in New York or the northeast can they do anything really remotely close to that,” said American Airlines' Vice President for Network and Schedule Planning, Vasu Raja. 

Furthermore, Ex Yu Aviation reports that the Philadelphia connection doesn’t seem to be the only one in the plans for this famous airline. 

“As we go and start things in Philadelphia, and they work, it becomes a means to develop routes for Chicago. Barcelona, Venice, Prague and Budapest all started from Philadelphia, and we realized they could all work from Chicago too, given where the traffic was coming from," Raja added, hinting that the airline could launch a service between Chicago and Dubrovnik in the coming years, as its new routes out of Philadelphia are used as a guinea pig for future operations out of O’Hare airport. Furthermore, the airline will launch seasonal flights from Chicago to Budapest and Prague next year, after operating from Philadelphia for the last two years. 

However, new connections from the US are no surprise. 

"This pilot project with 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. The American market is the second most strategically important for us in terms of visitors, just behind the United Kingdom. We expect flights to be extended throughout the season first and then for new routes to be added,” said Romana Vlašić of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board. 

The American Airlines service between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik 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.

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

June 8, 2019 - American Airlines launched its new seasonal service between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik on June 8, 2019, connecting the United States and Croatia for the first time in 28 years. American Airlines flight 148 landed in Dubrovnik 45 minutes earlier than scheduled. 

Mate Erceg

Ex Yu Aviation reports that flight AA148 left Philadelphia on Friday, June 7 at 6:06 pm local time (initially scheduled for 6:10 pm) with 209 passengers on board the Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. The return flight, which leaves Dubrovnik on June 8 at 11:40 am, should carry 120 passengers. 

Tonči Glavina

Tonči Glavina

As expected, this new seasonal service was a cause for celebration, and a ceremony was held earlier in the week at the National Constitution Center Museum in Philadelphia to kick off the new connection. 

There was even a party for 200 people and a klapa performance! 

TCN's Steve Rukavina was on the inaugural flight, alongside the Croatian Ambassador to the United States, Pjer Šimunović, and the State Secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Tourism, Frano Matušić.

"We are honored that American Airlines has chosen Dubrovnik to launch this historic service connecting our two great countries. We believe this will deepen the bilateral alliance and the bonds of friendship between two World Heritage cities and between the United States and Croatia," said Matušić on Ex Yu Aviation. 

Before the flight took off, American Airlines pulled out all the stops at the airport. 

Tonči Glavina

Rukavina said that the Philly mayor closed the event by saying: “My only regret today is that I am not on the flight to Dubrovnik!”

Steve Rukavina with Natko Vlahovic and AA VP Jim Moses

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. 

More soon...

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

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.