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 2019 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
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorDubrovnik Airport Ltd.
ServesDubrovnik-Neretva County
LocationMočići, Croatia
Hub forCroatia Airlines
Elevation AMSL527 ft / 161 m
Coordinates42°33′41″N 18°16′06″E / 42.56139°N 18.26833°E / 42.56139; 18.26833
Websiteairport-dubrovnik.hr
Map
DBV is located in Croatia
DBV
DBV
Location of the airport in Croatia
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
11/29 3,300 10,827 Concrete/Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers2,416,818 Increase 12.45%
Croatian Aeronautical Information Publication[1] Statistics from Dubrovnik Airport site[2]

History

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Yugoslav flag carrier Aeroput used a seaplane station in Dubrovnik to open the first route to the city in 1936. It linked Dubrovnik to the national capital Belgrade via Sarajevo. The following year a route to Zagreb was inaugurated. 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. The city was originally served by the Gruda Airfield which opened for commercial traffic in 1936 and was in use only during the summer months.[3] However, by early 1940s, due to World War II, Aeroput operations were suspended.[4][5]

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

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Control tower
 
View of the runway

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. Future airport plans call for an extensive commercial zone and a four-star airport hotel, and long-term plans call for a new runway and the conversion of the existing runway into a taxiway.

Airlines and destinations

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

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Seasonal: Athens
Aer Lingus Seasonal: Cork, Dublin
airBaltic Seasonal: Riga, Tallinn,[11] Vilnius[12]
Air France Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle[13][14]
Air Serbia Seasonal: Belgrade[15]
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna
British Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick,[16] London–Heathrow[17]
Brussels Airlines Seasonal: Brussels[18]
Croatia Airlines Frankfurt,[19] Zagreb[20]
Seasonal: Athens, Munich,[21] Osijek, Paris–Charles de Gaulle,[22] Prague,[23] Pula, Rome–Fiumicino, Split, Zürich
Discover Airlines Seasonal: Frankfurt[24][25]
easyJet Seasonal: Amsterdam, Basel/Mulhouse, Berlin, Bristol, Edinburgh, Geneva, London–Gatwick, Lyon, Manchester, Nantes,[26] Naples, Paris–Orly, Venice[27]
Eurowings Seasonal: Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
flydubai Seasonal: Dubai–International[28]
Freebird Airlines Charter: Amsterdam, Berlin, Billund, Brussels, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London–Gatwick, Lyon, Oslo, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Stockholm–Arlanda[29]
Iberia Seasonal: Madrid[30]
Jet2.com Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bournemouth (begins 24 July 2026),[31] East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow (begins 1 May 2026),[32] Leeds/Bradford, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
KLM Seasonal: Amsterdam[33][34][35]
Korean Air Seasonal charter: Seoul–Incheon[36]
Leav Aviation Seasonal charter: Cologne/Bonn[37]
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal: Warsaw–Chopin[38]
Lufthansa Seasonal: Munich
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg[39]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Bergen, Copenhagen, Gothenburg,[40] Helsinki, Oslo, Stavanger, Stockholm–Arlanda
Ryanair[41] Charleroi,[42] London–Stansted,[42] Vienna
Seasonal: Bari,[43] Beauvais,[42] Bergamo,[42] Berlin,[42] Dublin, Gothenburg (begins 8 July 2025),[44] Helsinki,[42] Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden,[42] Kraków,[42] Manchester,[42] Memmingen,[42] Poznań,[42] Rome–Fiumicino,[42] Sandefjord,[42] Stockholm–Arlanda,[42] Weeze,[45] Wrocław[42]
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal: Copenhagen
SkyAlps Seasonal: Bolzano[46]
Seasonal charter: Bratislava
Smartwings Seasonal: Katowice,[47] Prague, Warsaw–Chopin[47]
Seasonal charter: Gdańsk[48]
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Zurich (begins 17 April 2025)[49][50]
Trade Air Osijek, Rijeka, Split
Transavia Seasonal: Paris–Orly, Rotterdam/The Hague[51]
TUI Airways Seasonal: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff,[52] East Midlands, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford,[53] London–Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne[54]
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels[55]
Turkish Airlines Istanbul[56]
United Airlines Seasonal: Newark[57][58]
Volotea Seasonal: Athens, Bari,[59] Bordeaux, Lille,[60] Lyon,[61] Marseille, Nantes, Toulouse[62]
Vueling Seasonal: Barcelona, Rome–Fiumicino
Wizz Air Seasonal: Warsaw–Chopin[63]

Statistics

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Traffic figures

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Annual passenger traffic at DBV airport. See Wikidata query.
Traffic at Dubrovnik Rudjer Boskovic Airport[64][65]
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 
2011 1,349,501 6.25  16,050 3.29  420 3.45 
2012 1,480,470 9.70  16,216 1.03  357 15.00 
2013 1,522,629 2.85  16,126 0.56  375 5.04 
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 
Traffic at Dubrovnik Rudjer Boskovic Airport in 2022/2023 by month
Month Passengers 2022 Passengers 2023 Passenger %
Change
January 9,320 14,269 53.10 
February 9,242 17,459 88.91 
March 25,645 50,456 96.75 
April 117,715 167,731 42.49 
May 214,243 275,797 28.73 
June 313,381 344,456 9.92 
July 425,536 447,315 5.12 
August 429,878 444,368 3.37 
September 336,890 354,068 5.09 
October 217,751 242,752 11.48 
November 30,925 38,384 24.12 
December 18,655 19,763 5.93 

Largest airlines

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Rank Carrier Passengers 2018 %
1   Croatia Airlines 429,953 16.93
2   EasyJet 347,260 13.67
3   Jet2.com 179,990 7.09
4   Thomson Airways 127,352 5.02
5   Vueling Airlines 123,907 4.88
6   Lufthansa 103,760 4.09
7   British Airways 100,502 3.96
8   Norwegian Air Shuttle 88,243 3.47
9   Eurowings 87,570 3.53
10   Norwegian Air International 87,431 3.44
11   Austrian Airlines 87,065 3.43
12   Volotea 79,140 3.12
13   Turkish Airlines 70,339 2.77
Remaining 626,900 24.69
Source: Dubrovnik Airport[66]

Ground transport

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A shuttle bus operated by the company Platanus[67] connects the airport to Dubrovnik Old Town and Dubrovnik Bus Station in Gruž.

References

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