The world's largest carrier, American Airlines, is preparing for the launch of its seasonal service between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik with plans to further grow in Europe in 2020. "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", American Airlines' Managing Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa Sales, Tom Lattig, said last week. Commenting on the potential of introducing additional flights to Dubrovnik next year or extending the flying season, American said, "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".
On the other hand, the city of Dubrovnik expects to secure new flights from the United States in 2020. The head of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Romana Vlašić, recently said, "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". All three of the major US carriers - American Airlines, Delta and United - currently maintain codeshare flights to Dubrovnik through their respective partners. American noted it opted for Dubrovnik over Zagreb and Split due to "popular request".
Dubrovnik Airport anticipates strong loads on American Airlines' upcoming service. General Manager, Frano Luetić, previously said he believed the route would prove popular with both holidaymakers and the Croatian diaspora. He added that the airport expects that American will boost frequencies on the route in the years to come. The carrier noted the new route would serve both leisure and VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) traffic. American Airlines will operate its flights to Dubrovnik from June 7 until September 25 with its 209-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. In the long-term, the equipment will be changed to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. American has confirmed that its fleet of B767-300ERs will be retired in 2021 as new Dramliners join the fleet.
Can't wait to see them in Dubrovnik. This is a huge deal. Biggest airline in the world starting flights to DBV. Fantastic :)
ReplyDeleteCroatia keeps winning!
DeleteI'm surprised that American was the first to bite the bullet and start flights to Croatia. I would have thought it would be United considering its Star Alliance membership and potential for codeshare with Croatia Airlines.
DeleteDelta flies to the the most secondary European airports out of the US airlines. So perhaps they could consider Dubrovnik or Zagreb in the future too.
DeleteIt would be great also to have Delta in ZAG and United in SPU!
Delete^Don't get ahead of yourself. Let's see how this DBV route performs first.
DeleteDBV is obviously negotiating new US flights, they are usually very cautious with statements.
DeleteLots of people are wauting for a flight from Dubrovnik to Miami
DeleteWhat would have been really awesome s if we had OU flying these routes!
DeleteWhat other city from the US could work to Dubrovnik?
ReplyDeleteJFK obviously.
DeleteThe choice of Philadelphia being their first route to Dubrovnik is quite odd.
Delete@9.08 Philadelphia is quite close to New York.
DeleteLAX
DeleteAnonymous at 09:17
DeletePHL is American Airlines main transatlantic hub.
Chicago could work well too.
DeleteAmerican just launched daily 797 flights from ORD to ATH. So I can definitely see them launching DBV or ZAG too.
DeleteThey are cutting Asian connections from Chicago and focusing more on European flying.
797?
DeleteI think he meant 789
Delete^ Correct, that is what I meant.
DeleteAnyone know how the bookings are performing?
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can see booking is great, machines are almost full, except first few flts from DBV which is normal bcs tourists first need to arrive to DBV.
DeleteThat's excellent to here. I remember there was an article here where American said that advanced bookings were doing really well. Also I read that Dubrovnik Tourist Board was looking to attract upscale tourists on this route so perhaps business class booking will do well.
DeleteI have no doubt these flights will be a hit.
Delete@9.08 can you check how premium bookings are going? Thanks
DeleteI thin that they had introduce Zagreb flights. In Zagreb they will have much more connections than in Dubrovnik, but I am happy for Dubrovnik anyway. It is good for Croatia in general.
ReplyDeleteI definitely wasn't expecting DBV to become the first city in Croatia to restart US flights. Good on them.
DeleteAA is making the right choice by choosing Dubrovnik.
DeleteI also agree with anon 9.07 and think they would have had better chances with ZAG then DBV. Time will tell.
DeleteIf Venice, Athens, Budapest and Prague can have US flights, why not Dubrovnik?
DeletePHL-ZAG-DBV-PHL (4x week) and PHL-DBV-ZAG-PHL (3x week) SEASONAL could work.
DeleteVenice, Athens, Budapest and Prague are airports with more than 15 million annual passengers serving catchment areas of millions.
DeleteDBV is nowhere near them.
You don't know what you are talking about
DeleteYes you are right Anon 13:05, Dubrovnik with its less than 50.000 population and its 2.5 million pax airport is comparable with Venice, Athens, Budapest and Prague!
DeleteSMFH
@An.11.21
DeleteDon't agree. I believe there is potential for AA nonstops both to ZAG and DBV with at least 3 or 4 weekly frequencies each, both from Philly and Chicago as their major hubs, during summer season However, triangle which you suggest could be operated during winter season. I think that's what we are going to see in the next few years. And Croatia Airlines, sleep well :(
This should be a route with great LF during the summer, there is also potential to extend it few months for the next year, but year round ops probably can't work... I'm afraid that even ZAG can not work year round to the States, so chances for DBV are even lower.
ReplyDeleteHope to see some of US carriers in ZAG during the summer months in near future (best example is AC Rouge with 4pw to YYZ).
I think we will see the same scenario like with the Toronto-Zagreb flights. One airline begins the route, is relatively successful and immediately others will follow.
DeleteIf flights are successful, AA will do the same as it did with Prague. Start flights from May instead of June and increase frequnecies.
Deleteand operate until end of summer season.
DeleteThey can definitely extend the season. They are a bit cautious this year but hopefully with good returns they will fly for 5 months in 2020.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteThis is a historic event not only for Hrvatska, but for the entire region.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a huge achievement and difficult task.
Bravo DBV!!
It is certainly very good for DBV in terms of reputation and attracting more carriers of the same type.
DeleteTrue dat. Don't forget about the prestige and how this is seen from an external view, too.
DeleteAre there any billboards, commercials in the US for this route?
DeleteYou don't promote this type of route on billboards in the US. They are being promoted by tour operators for American tourists.
DeleteCongratulation to Dubrovnik.
ReplyDeleteI think that next up they should definitely target Canada or South Korea flights. After they secure one destination from each they should look into adding more points in the US.
ReplyDeleteI doubt Korean Air will fly to Zagreb AND Dubrovnik.
DeleteI am confident we will be seeing more long-haul routes to YYZ, NRT and maybe LAX or BOS.
DeleteI hope Dubrovnik can somehow interest Air Transat to launch flights from Toronto.
DeleteDidn't Dubrovnik have JAL charters from Japan? Would be nice to see them back.
DeleteIt did. They even used the B747.
DeleteThere are still charters, but with ANA.
DeleteKorean could do ICN-ZAG-DBV-ICN, like they do with ZRH during winter.
DeleteRoutes from US to Dubrovnik definitely have potential.
ReplyDeleteWe will see.
DeleteDubrovnik definitely knows how to do the job! And even more carriers are considered in the future! Really great!
DeleteI'm really interested to see how this will perform. Hope for the best and we see new US routes to DBV in 2020 :)
ReplyDeleteUS authorities are very transparent and issue load factors for each route so we will be able to exactly see.
DeleteGood luck.
ReplyDeleteOnly US3 flying to ex-Yu. This shows to what extent Dubrovnik is a world-class destination.
ReplyDeleteDBV is the only city in Ex-Yu that has an American carrier at all which is impressive.
DeleteVery prestigious!
DeleteThis will be the highlight of the year. Huge congratulation to Dubrovnik!
ReplyDeleteAgree. American Airlines opening this route will be one of the most exciting news this year! Good luck!
DeleteGreat to see 2 Croatian airports with long haul flights this summer.
ReplyDeleteCould have been three had Air Transat not cancelled Split.
DeleteWon't this affect some airlines flying to DBV, particularly BA?
ReplyDeleteMight affect some a bit.
DeleteBA flies from LGW, not LHR. I doubt that it will have major effect.
DeleteIt could also affect Air Serbia. They have a lot of transfers from JFK to DBV via BEG.
DeleteThis flight is from Philadelphia, not New York.
DeleteTK must also have pax from the US to DBV.
DeleteWould have preferred New York but this is good too.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to have Philadelphia flights for DBV and New York for Zagreb, at least seasonally.
DeleteUnlike Mr Luetic I think this route will be used almost exclusively by tourists as the majority of the Croatian emigration in the US does not hail from in and around Dubrovnik. Using this route for them means little because they would have to transfer and buy a separate ticket on OU (OU is Star, AA is oneoworlrd). So I think a future service to Zagreb will be used by the diaspora.
ReplyDelete@An.09.55
Delete1 to 3 hours by car from Dubrovnik are Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania. None has direct US flights. All have big US diaspora. PHL is main transatlantic AA hub. So, there would be diaspora (maybe not predominantly Croatian) using these flights. But yes, I believe there is space for ZAG to have the US flights, both for diaspora, tourists, transfers and business passengers and I believe we will not wait long to see it.
JU are agressively expanding in Croatia and not sure if DBV-PHL will affect them. They will fly to 6 Croatian airports!
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/03/summer-2019-air-serbia.html (see map)
Also don't forget that ASL has amazing prices to JFK and beyond, while AA is really expensive.
Hope they move to the B787 in 2020 and not wait until 2021 :)
ReplyDeleteB767 is perfect equipment for this route.
DeleteVery nice. Hope this might trigger other US carriers to start across the country.
ReplyDeleteAgree. I think it will attract other airlines to launch long haul flights to DBV.
DeleteI think it can also attract more US carriers to other cities in Croatia (not just to Dubrovnik)
DeleteIt will. If AA makes DBV work, ZAG, and SPU will follow.
DeleteSo, Dubrovnik is aiming for more cities in the US in the future? Wow!
ReplyDeleteYep
DeleteGenerally flights from US and Canada should always do well to Croatia. Mix of leisure and diaspora passengers.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nicer if they flew Philadelphia - Zagreb - Dubrovnik - Philadelphia.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how much money AA will get from Croatian tourist board for these flights.
ReplyDeleteJealous much?
DeleteNot at all. I'm genuinely wondering since both AA and DBV said the route was being launched in assistance from the board, which you can easily check from the companies that applied for so called "joint advertising" last year as one airline was from America - obviously American. Before you rip my head off, I didn't say it was a bad thing.
DeleteIf Tourist Board pays 100 dollars for each tourist coming on AA, which is definitely not the case, and each tourist spends 1000 dollars, out of which the state receives 200 dollars for taxes, it's investment, not expense, and very good business deal :)
DeleteNot a penny. They did not ask money for this flight. Information is from DBV management.
DeletePurger
What are the airfares like on this route?
ReplyDeleteIn July $985 basic economy - which means no checked in luggage.
DeleteIt will be interesting to see how many new American tourists will arrive in Croatia this year thanks to these flights.
ReplyDeleteThe number of tourists increased significantly from Canada since nonstop flights were introduced from Toronto to Zagreb.
DeleteFunny to see all this long haul interest for a region that was dead in the regard just a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteSoon I'm hoping American Airlines JFK-ZAG, JFK-PRN and TIA too.
ReplyDeleteI would go for Delta, JFK-ZAG!
DeleteYankees are likely to prefer Croatia to Latin America in the future. The Carribbean is all boring and the same. All-incluse closed resorts and not safe.
ReplyDeleteIt will first be Philly, then Big Apple and then the city of angels in 3-4 years time.
If Croatia connected Seoul, then why not another unique destination.
Carribbean boring? ALL unsafe? Na cemu si, sinko? Lol
DeleteAnd out of the whole world, they will flock to Croatia.
DeleteLord, give me strength...
Will they use the Croatian speaking crew they were hiring last year on these flights?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/09/american-hiring-croatian-speaking-crew.html
Obviously they will have some on each flight. What would be the point of specifically hiring Croatian speaking crew otherwise?
DeleteI hope this flight does great
ReplyDelete