American Airlines has scheduled and put on sale tickets for its seasonal summer service between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik for the 2020 summer season, during which it will operate daily return flights. The world's largest carrier will resume operations between the two cities on June 1, with services slated to run each day from the very start of the season, compared to three to four weekly services this summer. As a result, American will add an additional 836 weekly seats each way between the two cities with all flights to be operated by the Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. The service is codeshared by fellow Oneworld alliance partners British Airways and Finnair.

Commenting on the expansion of its Dubrovnik operations, the carrier said, "American Airlines is very pleased with the bookings for our flights between Dubrovnik and Philadelphia. We constantly evaluate our network to ensure we are maximising our fleet, while matching customer demand. It was a result of this process that we were able to add more weekly frequencies. We always review the performance of our new routes and ensure we have the right schedule for our customers". It added, "Dubrovnik has been a place of interest for several years. It has grown in popularity among US travellers, but remained unserved by US airlines. American Airlines saw an opportunity to fill that gap". Next year, American will also introduce new flights from Philadelphia to Casablanca, Dallas to Tel Aviv and from Chicago to Krakow, Budapest and Prague.

American notes the Dubrovnik route serves both for leisure and VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) traffic. In the long-term, the equipment on the service is expected to be changed from the B767 to the newer B787 Dreamliner. American has confirmed that its fleet of B767-300ERs will be retired in 2021 as new Dramliners are delivered. The current average age of American’s B767 fleet is twenty years. "At present, the B767 is the right aircraft for this route, however, we are always evaluating our network to ensure we are maximising our assets and meeting customer demand. We are excited to be serving the picturesque city of Dubrovnik and we look forward to welcoming more of our customers in both Croatia and the US, thanks to our expansive network of connections", the company said.

The new American Airlines service to Dubrovnik has contributed to the airport's busiest month on record. It handled 514.723 passengers in July, representing an increase of 8.4% on last year. It marks the first time the airport welcomed over half a million travellers in a single month. During the January - July period, Dubrovnik Airport saw 1.574.407 passengers pass through its doors, up 14.3%. Overall, the airport added an extra 197.264 travellers on 2018.