United and Delta set for Dubrovnik launch


United Airlines will today inaugurate flights between New York’s Newark Airport and Dubrovnik, connecting the two cities with a nonstop air service for the first time in just over three decades. It will be followed up by Delta, which will commence operations from JFK Airport to the Croatian coast tomorrow. United’s inaugural flight will depart this evening, New York time. The 214-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft is almost completely full, with just two seats left available in economy class as of this morning. Services will run three times per week, departing the Big Apple on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and arriving in Dubrovnik the following day. The seasonal operation is scheduled to be maintained until October 2.

The head of the Dubrovnik Tourism Board, Ana Hrnić, noted, “Throughout the pandemic, we have made great efforts to promote the city and to maintain the destination’s visibility with special emphasis on the US market. Our efforts have paid off. Seven weekly nonstop flights from the US are a huge success for Dubrovnik’s tourism. The American market is the second biggest in Dubrovnik, right after the UK. This year we expect excellent results from this extremely important market for us, and we hope to see continuous growth in the years ahead". The General Manager of Dubrovnik Airport, Frano Luetić, added, “This service will significantly contribute to the return of our American guests to Dubrovnik and Croatia as a whole in these difficult times”.

Delta Air Lines will inaugurate its service from JFK to Dubrovnik tomorrow, with flights to operate four times per week, departing New York each Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the 226-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. The seasonal route will be maintained until October 3. Overall, Delta will offer 24.406 seats between New York and Dubrovnik this summer, while United has 22.684 seats available. United will codeshare on Croatia Airlines’ flights between Dubrovnik and Zagreb, in order to offer better connectivity to and from the Croatian capital. Furthermore, its flights have been timed so as to connect onto 65 cities in North America. According to global data provider OAG, in 2019, over 20.000 passengers flew indirectly between Dubrovnik and New York.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    This is a huge milestone for Dubrovnik. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:02

      One of the best managed airports in ex-Yu without doubt.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:22

      Dubrovnik definitely knows how to do the job

      Delete
    3. Vlad13:48

      Commenters on this blog tend to give DBV management way too much credit.

      These flights are happening thanks to the big spike in demand from the US to Croatia this year, due to the fact that it took the other EU countries ages to reopen, while Croatia prudently remained open to Americans the whole time and was therefore a safer/more stable destination to plan summer vacations. In addition to that, US airlines have a lot of spare long-haul capacity this summer, owing to the ridiculous US ban on Schengen arrivals, which still keeps EU-US travel at less than 30% of 2019 numbers.

      Literally the only thing DBV management did was grant the slots requested by the airlines. Hardly something to be praised to high heaven.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:50

      Well not really. The management said a few months ago that they contacted all three US airlines - American., United and Delta about flights. So they obviously did something right.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:55

      They give them credit because DBV has done extremely well in the last 10 years and even more. Two new terminals, first airport in Croatia with air bridges, first airport to get transatlantic flights after 25 years in Croatia, they are an extremely profitable airport and it is actually a very good airport to use from a customer point of view. I mean they even have two business class lounges

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:54

      Its a tradition on this blog to give credits to airport managments when opening new routes. You can se bunch of comments like Bravo BEG! "," Good job Skopje! " etc. so why not to congradulate to DBV this time.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:17

      @Anonymous13:55

      Zagreb had transatlantic flights since 2012, not sure when you say first, what do you mean by that???

      Delete
    8. Actually ZAG had transatlantic flights much much much before 2012. It is since 1971 when JAT bought first B707's, and if we speak scheduled year-round transatlantic flights it would be 1976, when scheduled BEG-ZAG-JFK had started

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Nice to see full loads. Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      This should be a route with great LF during the summer

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    I hope both continue to fly next year as well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:03

    Now we wait for Pragusa One :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:03

    I said it before and I will say it again - missed opportunity for Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      OU should have attempted long haul flights at some point.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:33

      This is actually good news for OU. It will fill some domestic routes from Dubrovnik.

      Delete
    3. Interesting, when some other posters write about OU and their missed chances in long haul, the guy spitting at me regularly when I say the same, keeps his mouth firmly shut. Is it because I list the real reasons why is that so and because I call him and his Party what they are? I let others participants make their own conclusions ☺

      Delete
    4. If you think about me, no, i literally never spited on you. I just tried to show you a reality about long haul in Croatia and in general. On the other hand, when i said you about Aegeans position you spited at me calling me a liar and manipulator. And i even posted a text where Aegean CEOs talks about it, still you never apologized about spiting on me for no normal reason. You should also understand there is obviously more then one or two people not agreeing with your oppinions about long haul and OU.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous00:43

      Pozdrav this is DBV-New York not Zagreb-Delhi ;) Big difference. Besides who knows, you may be Anon 09:03 after all, just like you accuse others of having different personalities.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:12

    Awesome

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:12

    Well done Dubrovnik!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:13

    Good luck United. Nice to see them finally in the region.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:15

    Good to see there are long haul flights to Croatia this year.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    Wonder who will be more successful, United or Delta?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:15

    Hope American returns soon too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      They will, next year

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      American Airlines made a mistake by terminating Philly - Dubrovnik.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:46

      Or, American Airlines tried and noticed that it doesn't work well, even during the period where Dubrovnik's charm peaked, thanks to the GoT. That's why it pulled back, and the other two want to desperately try because there's a hysteria among the airlines to fly to leisure destinations this summer, hoping that people will rush to fill the planes and hotels for holiday. Remember, AA had 83% LF only in 2019, which is far from being promising for a seasonal transatlantic route.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:49

      Your jealous analysis makes no sense whatsoever considering American planned DAILY flights (they were scheduled and in the system) for 2020, as well as second destination in 2021. Concluding a route's success purely on load factor is hilarious. If it had excellent loads in premium cabin it could go half empty in economy and still be profitable. You also don't know what kind of charges, if any, they had in Dubrovnik.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:20

    Can't wait to see these two bird in DBV

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:20

    Recovery of the aviation industry in the US has been remarkable. Great to see this new routes.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:21

    What are the fares like on this route. Is it expensive?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Pricey

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      Not really. DBV-EWR-DBV return ticket can be found for €715. That's a good price for high season.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:22

    Will they consider any other destination in the region?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:25

      We may see United in Zagreb but that's about it. I doubt we would have seen either United or Delta in Dubrovnik had it not been for Covid and the entry restrictions elsewhere.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:35

      Together with Dubrovnik, they also launching Washington - Athens.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:25

    214 seater, 3pw in peak season, very good and safe choice for the start. And I guess, we can include some of OU ZAG transfer pax via DBV.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:28

    But why not Zagreb?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      No demand.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:31

      Because Americans want to go to the coast.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:32

      @9.30

      Yes, I'm sure you know.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:37

      I think that they should have introduced 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.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:39

      Hope to see some of US carriers in ZAG during the summer months in near future

      Delete
    6. There was info published here some time ago about all traffic between the US and Croatia and numbers are bigger from ZAG then DBV. So please stop no demand mantra. It was the same mantra with LCC in ZAG and it changed and this will as well

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:44

      It would be better if they flew Newark - Zagreb - Dubrovnik - Newark.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:02

      What about Split? It is Croatia's second largest city, tourist destination and has a big catchment area? Any possibility for transatlantic flights from there?

      Delete
    9. Split has a potential for seasonal long haul for sure, but it has huge problems with capacity on tarmac (there is no "real " widebody position, there is only a line which points where it should stay, and when you place widebody there it takes 2 or 3 positions for narrowbodies which is a lot if you consider there is only 12 positions) and probelms wity runway which only has 2550 meters. Only chanse for Split to get long haul is XLR and if Transat gets it they will probably launch Split.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:31

    Nice :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:32

    Not one but two US3 airlines. Amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      This is very good for DBV in terms of reputation and attracting more carriers of the same type.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      From next year, probably all three in DBV :)

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:34

    Congratulation to Dubrovnik on this major win of confidence

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous09:37

    I was 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. But it's good to see them come eventually, even more so during this crisis year.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous09:37

    This is a huge deal. One of the biggest airlines in the world starting flights to DBV. Fantastic :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous09:39

    I think that next up Dubrovnik 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      Routes from US to Dubrovnik definitely have potential. I don't think they should waiut with attracting more US flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:43

      Generally flights from US and Canada should always do well to Croatia. Mix of leisure and diaspora passengers.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:24

      I hope Dubrovnik can somehow interest Air Transat to launch flights from Toronto.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous09:43

    I'm really interested to see how this will perform. Hope for the best and we see new US routes to DBV in 2022 :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous09:43

    This is the highlight of the year. Huge congratulation to Dubrovnik!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous09:43

    Won't this affect some airlines flying to DBV, particularly BA?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      This year hardly. I don't think BA has even resumed Dubrovnik yet. Net year possibly, but I assume airlines will respond with some competitive fares.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous09:45

    Hope they move to the B787 eventually.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      B767 is perfect equipment for this route.

      Delete
    2. Capacity wise yes. Fuel burning wise, maintenance wise, financial wise and comfort wise, Dreamliner would be much better option

      Delete
  28. Anonymous09:48

    Very nice. Hope this might trigger other US carriers to start across the country.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:25

      American's arrival in 2019 triggered United to come.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous09:49

    It will be interesting to see how many new American tourists will arrive in Croatia this year thanks to these flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:56

      They have a limited a number of places to go on holiday.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:23

      Most of Europe has reopened to US passengers.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous09:56

    I hope this flight does great

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous09:59

    Really glad for DBV!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous10:01

    Delta and UA will cannibalize each other

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      Agree. Too much capacity to New York.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous10:23

    What other city from the US could work to Dubrovnik? Other than New York and Philadelphia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:25

      Los Angeles

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:24

      I think Delta could do well by launching flights from Atlanta. It is their mega hub.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:50

      Chicago would do well in summer.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous10:26

    Are these United flights receiving some sort of subsidies from the tourist board?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vlad13:51

      There's no need for subsidies, organic demand for travel to Croatia is huge this year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:26

      They all get money from "udruzeno oglasavanje" fund.

      Delete
  35. Anonymous10:26

    Congratulations Dubrovnik and a very good catch

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous10:48

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous11:44

    Will there be a welcome ceremony?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:52

      Of course there will. It's the biggest event in the airpor's recent history.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:24

      Definitely

      Delete
  38. Anonymous14:39

    Hats down DBV

    ReplyDelete
  39. Anonymous14:39

    So daily flights from Dubrovnik to New York. Who would have thought just a year ago.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous14:40

    Will UA and DL planes be at Dubrovnik at the same time?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:56

      Yes! They will be arriving half an hour apart on Fridays and Saturdays.

      Delete
  41. Anonymous15:51

    Yesterday was an interesting report about Dubrovnik in German tv .
    Cruise ships are back .
    But these tourists are not allowed to go eating out or even go inside a shop .
    They said if they get caught they will be denied to get back on their ship and instead have to fly home .
    Doesnt sound like an exciting journey for me .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:55

      I don't understand. Are they allowed to go off the ship at all?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:10

      Yeah but not on their own- only with a tour guide .
      No eating, no drinking and no shopping .

      Delete
    3. What are you talking about? As of today, covid passes are in effect for the entire EU. All vaccinated people can freely move. All restaurants and shops in Croatia are opened, with no restrictions. I am in Vilnius right now, and as of today we don't have to wear face masks inside the hotel any more and the restaurants are opened again. Why should be tourists with granted access to Dubrovnik (or anywhere else) be restricted from entering shops and restaurants? Make no sense whatsoever.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous00:49

      taking about Cruise ships passengers not "normal" tourist

      Delete
    5. Anonymous02:30

      Hmmm...probably company guidelines.
      If just one person gets covid he will infect the whole ship and that would be the financial suicide for the cruise.
      Understandable their fear.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:53

      Yes, that is the reason

      Delete
  42. Anonymous18:04

    When does the plane depart European time?

    ReplyDelete

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