Dubrovnik Airport

Dubrovnik Ruđer Bošković Airport (Croatian: Zračna luka Ruđer Bošković Dubrovnik; IATA: DBV, ICAO: LDDU), also referred to as Čilipi Airport (Croatian pronunciation: [tʃǐlipi]), is the international airport of Dubrovnik, Croatia. The airport is located approximately 15.5 km^[1] (9.5 mi) from Dubrovnik city center, near Čilipi. It was the third-busiest airport in Croatia in 2024 after Zagreb Airport and Split Airport in terms of passenger throughput. It has the country's longest runway, allowing it to accommodate heavy long-haul aircraft. The airport is a major destination for leisure flights during the European summer holiday season.

Dubrovnik Ruđer Bošković Airport Močići Airport Zračna luka Dubrovnik/Močići
IATA: DBV ICAO: LDDU
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Dubrovnik Airport Ltd.
Serves	Dubrovnik-Neretva County
Location	Močići, Croatia
Hub for	Croatia Airlines
Elevation AMSL	527 ft / 161 m
Coordinates	42°33′41″N 18°16′06″E
Website	airport-dubrovnik.hr
Map
DBV Location of the airport in Croatia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 11/29 3,300 10,827 Concrete/Asphalt
Statistics (2024)
Passengers 2,954,934 22.26%
Croatian Aeronautical Information Publication[1] Statistics from Dubrovnik Airport site[2]

History

In 1936, the Yugoslav flag carrier Aeroput used a seaplane station in Dubrovnik to open the first route to the national capital Belgrade via Sarajevo.^{[clarification needed]} The following year a route to Zagreb was inaugurated. However, the city was primarily served by an airfield at Gruda, approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) south-east of the current airport, which opened for commercial traffic in 1936, initially only in use during the summer months. But it was in 1938 that Dubrovnik saw a significant increase in air traffic, with the introduction by Aeroput of regular flights to Vienna, Brno and Prague with stops in Sarajevo and Zagreb, and also the introduction of a regular flight between Belgrade and Tirana with a stop in Dubrovnik. By the early 1940s, due to World War II, Aeroput operations were suspended.^[3][4]

After World War II, Gruda Airfield continued in operation^[5] until the current Dubrovnik Airport opened in 1962. During 1987, the busiest year in Yugoslav aviation, the airport handled 835,818 passengers on international flights and a further 586,742 on domestic services.^[6] Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the airport surpassed the one-million-passenger mark in 2005. In September 2023, it surpassed the two-million-passenger mark.^[7]

Today, Dubrovnik boasts the most modern passenger terminal in the country. A new terminal has been built in place of the old airport building, that dated from 1962, which has now been demolished to make way for a new modern structure. The price tag of the project amounts to seventy million euros and is to be financed out of a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In May 2010 a new terminal opened stretching over 13,700 square meters. Dubrovnik Airport has the capacity to handle two million passengers per year.

In 2023 the airport was renamed to honor the astronomer and polymath Roger Joseph Boscovich (Ruđer Josip Bošković, 1711–1787).^[8][9]

Terminal facilities

Control tower

Dubrovnik Airport inside

Terminal

Dubrovnik Airport consists of three terminal areas, A, B and C. The spacious new Terminal C was opened in February 2017 and became fully functional in April 2017 as it replaced Terminal A for all passenger departures including check-in and security check. The new terminal features check-in and commercial space stretching over 1,000 square meters, eight security lanes, a departure lounge with commercial and catering facilities, a premium lounge and restaurants. Furthermore, it boasts sixteen gates, two of which will be used for domestic flights and the remaining fourteen for international services. With an area of 24,181 square meters, the airport's annual capacity has increased to 3.5 million passengers.^[10] The Terminal A building has been permanently closed for passenger traffic and is now being used solely as a baggage sorting facility. The new Terminal C is located next to the existing Terminal B building which handles arriving passengers. The two have been combined into a single functioning unit.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Dubrovnik Airport:

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Seasonal: Athens[11]
Aer Lingus	Seasonal: Cork, Dublin[12]
Air Baltic	Seasonal: Riga[13]
Air France	Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle[14][15]
Air Serbia	Seasonal: Belgrade[16]
Austrian Airlines	Seasonal: Vienna[17]
British Airways	Seasonal: London–Gatwick,[18] London–Heathrow[19]
Brussels Airlines	Seasonal: Brussels[20]
Croatia Airlines	Frankfurt,[21] Zagreb[22] Seasonal: Athens, Munich,[23] Osijek,[24] Paris–Charles de Gaulle,[25] Prague,[26] Pula, Rome–Fiumicino, Split,[27] Zürich
Discover Airlines	Frankfurt[28][29]
EasyJet	Seasonal: Amsterdam,[30] Basel/Mulhouse,[30] Berlin,[31] Bordeaux (begins 23 June 2025),[32][33] Bristol,[34] Edinburgh,[30] Geneva,[30] London–Gatwick,[35] Lyon,[30] Manchester,[30] Nantes,[33] Naples,[30] Paris–Orly[30]
Enter Air	Seasonal charter: Poznań (begins 3 June 2025)[36]
Eurowings	Seasonal: Berlin, Cologne/Bonn,[37] Düsseldorf,[38] Hamburg[38]
Finnair	Seasonal: Helsinki
Flydubai	Seasonal: Dubai–International[39]
Freebird Airlines	Charter: Amsterdam, Berlin, Billund, Brussels, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London–Gatwick, Lyon, Oslo, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Stockholm–Arlanda[40]
Iberia	Seasonal: Madrid[41]
Jet2.com	Seasonal: Belfast–International,[42] Birmingham,[43] Bournemouth (begins 24 July 2026),[44] East Midlands,[45] Edinburgh,[45] Glasgow (begins 1 May 2026),[46] Leeds/Bradford,[45] London–Stansted,[45] Manchester,[47] Newcastle upon Tyne[48]
KLM	Seasonal: Amsterdam[49][50][51]
Korean Air	Seasonal charter: Seoul–Incheon[52]
Leav Aviation	Seasonal charter: Cologne/Bonn[53]
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw–Chopin[54][55]
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Munich[56]
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxembourg[57]
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Bergen,[58] Copenhagen,[59] Gothenburg,[60][61] Helsinki, Oslo,[62] Stavanger,[63] Stockholm–Arlanda[64]
Ryanair[65]	Charleroi,[66] London–Stansted,[66] Vienna[30] Seasonal: Bari,[67] Beauvais,[66] Bergamo,[66] Berlin,[66] Dublin,[30] Gothenburg (begins 3 June 2025),[68] Helsinki,[66] Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden,[66] Katowice,[69] Kraków,[66] Manchester,[66] Marseille,[70] Memmingen,[66] Poznań,[66] Rome–Fiumicino,[66] Sandefjord,[66] Stockholm–Arlanda,[66] Weeze,[71] Wrocław[66]
Scandinavian Airlines	Seasonal: Copenhagen[72]
Swiss International Air Lines	Seasonal: Zurich[73][74]
Trade Air	Osijek, Rijeka, Split
Transavia	Seasonal: Paris–Orly,[75] Rotterdam/The Hague[76][77]
TUI Airways	Seasonal: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff,[78] East Midlands, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford,[79] London–Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne[80]
TUI fly Belgium	Seasonal: Brussels[81]
Turkish Airlines	Seasonal: Istanbul[82][83]
United Airlines	Seasonal: Newark[84][85]
Volotea	Seasonal: Athens, Bari,[86] Bordeaux, Lille,[87] Lyon,[88] Marseille, Nantes, Toulouse[89]
Vueling	Barcelona[90] Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino[91]
Wizz Air	Seasonal: Warsaw–Chopin[92]

Statistics

Traffic figures

Traffic at Dubrovnik Rudjer Boskovic Airport^[93][94]

Year	Passengers	Passenger % Change	Aircraft Landings	Aircraft Landings% Change	Cargo (tonnes)	Cargo % Change
1987	1,460,354	20.52	15,606	2.55	2,490	0.53
2014	1,584,471	4.06	16,492	2.27	291	22.40
2015	1,693,934	6.91	16,852	2.18	256	12.03
2016	1,993,243	17.67	19,244	14.19	224	12.50
2017	2,323,065	16.5	21,496	11.70	204	8.90
2018	2,539,412	9.31	23,596	9.76	176	13.70
2019	2,896,227	14.05	25,962	10.03	127	28.41
2020	330,147	88.6	8,486	67.31	29	77.17
2021	927,934	181.1	14,212	67.47	390	1244
2022	2,149,181	131.6	20,630	45.16	411	5.3
2023	2,416,818	12.46	21,484	4.14	57	86.14
2024	2.954,934	22.26	25.546	18.91	25	55.91

Traffic at Dubrovnik Rudjer Boskovic Airport in 2024/2025 by month

Month	Passengers 2024	Passengers 2025	Passenger % Change
January	15,095	19,856	31.54
February	17,618	22,314	26.65
March	42,657
April	224,163
May	361,755
June	431,771
July	522,848
August	530,885
September	421,546
October	307,527
November	51,813
December	27,256

Largest airlines

Rank	Carrier	Passengers 2018[needs update]	%
1	Croatia Airlines	429,953	16.93
2	easyJet	347,260	13.67
3	Jet2.com	179,990	7.09
4	TUI Airways	127,352	5.02
5	Vueling	123,907	4.88
Source: Dubrovnik Airport[95]

Ground transport

A shuttle bus operated by the company Platanus^[96] connects the airport to Dubrovnik Old Town and Dubrovnik Bus Station in Gruž.