Despite a lot of talk during the past year or so, it looks increasingly unlikely that the much anticipated USA - Dubrovnik direct line will come to fruition in 2017.
Dubrovnik's Mayor, Andro Vlahusic stated back in May 2016 that the number of visitors from the United States has tripled in the past five years and that there is a desire to establish direct flights between New York and Dubrovnik. He claimed that it was unacceptable for American citizens to need to transfer through Belgrade in order to reach their final destination on Croatia's southern coast.
There has been a relatively big push to get the direct flights organised for a while now, but according to Frano Luetic at EX-YU Aviation News, there has been no progress regarding the issue, nor are there any indications to suggest that such operations could occur in 2017.
Back in February of 2016 a petition was launched in the USA in an attempt to put pressure on the issue which stated: “Dubrovnik, Zagreb, New York and Split are the world’s most vibrant and entrepreneurial cities but DO NOT have an overseas direct non stop flights which could connect our cities in just over 8 hours. Through our petition we can show the airlines there’s strong demand for a direct New York – Dubrovnik – Zagreb flight, providing essential market research on how profitable the route could be.”
2016 was the busiest year in this history of Dubrovnik Airport as a mammoth 1.9 million passengers passed through between January and November, namely from popular European airports such as London Gatwick and Frankfurt. While there is still hope that the much desired USA - Dubrovnik direct line will be established, it is highly doubtful that the task will be completed in 2017.
