Dubrovnik Airport had 17 percent less passenger traffic in the first ten days of March, and there are plenty of flight cancellations for the April and the beginning of May.

Coronavirus has not only caused cruise ships to cancel their arrival in Dubrovnik but is also having a negative effect on the start of the tourist season as airlines have adjusting to the challenge of COVID-19. Transavia flights to Paris have been cancelled, several Croatia Airlines flights also from Paris, from Vienna several Laud Motion flights and from Prague Smartwings flights have all been cancelled. Qatar Airways flights from Qatar scheduled to start this season will not fly at all this year. But however challenging the early tourist season is in Dubrovnik there are, so far, no flight cancellations in June, July and August, or the main season. 

Empty check-in desks in Dubrovnik Airport - Photo DV 

The Director of Dubrovnik Airport, Frano Luetic, said at press conference today that he expected losses this year. “If the situation improves, we hope to start returning to the heart of the season a bit earlier than in previous years. But in the preseason, we will have a rather large decrease, and the fall in physical traffic will lead to a financial drop. We will have to cut costs due to reduce in traffic, and that means reducing seasonal employment. We will have to make restrictions. We have suspended further employment,” concluded Luetic.