After 35 Years: Dubrovnik and Belgrade Reconnected
Air Serbia introduces a year-round route from October 25, 2026, with three weekly flights, including during winter.
Air Serbia introduces a year-round route from October 25, 2026, with three weekly flights, including during winter.
Starting at the end of October this year, Air Serbia will, for the first time in 35 years, reconnect Dubrovnik and Belgrade year-round. The previously seasonal route is becoming a permanent one, with aircraft operating between the two cities during the winter schedule as well, three times a week.
Flights are scheduled for Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays, operated by ATR 72-600 aircraft. The winter schedule begins on October 25, 2026, and runs until March 27, 2027, making Dubrovnik the third Croatian destination with year-round service by the Serbian carrier, after Zagreb and Split.
Air Serbia's decision marks a return to connectivity levels not seen since 1990. Back then, the Belgrade-Dubrovnik route accounted for as much as 34 percent of all domestic air traffic of the former JAT. Data from the summer of 1989 is even more striking, with JAT operating more than 30 weekly flights in both directions between Dubrovnik and Belgrade.
The service was suspended in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the JNA's aggression against Croatia. Air links between Croatia and Serbia were severed, and Dubrovnik's airport was occupied and suffered extensive damage. It took two decades before direct flights between the two cities were reestablished, which happened in June 2011. JAT resumed flights from Belgrade to Dubrovnik, and shortly thereafter, Croatia Airlines also began operating on the route.
After 2011, the connection remained primarily seasonal. For instance, during the summer of 2013, JAT operated five weekly flights between Belgrade and Dubrovnik, while there were no flights to Croatia during the winter. After JAT evolved into Air Serbia, seasonal connectivity continued, but the possibility of a direct flight from Dubrovnik to Belgrade in November, January, or February did not exist-until this winter.
According to regional business portal SEEbiz, the route to Split, which became year-round during the 2025/26 winter season, proved to be one of Air Serbia's more successful routes during the winter. It is anticipated that the Dubrovnik route will also enhance connectivity between the two cities during the off-peak months, potentially improving access to Dubrovnik for travelers from Serbia and creating new opportunities for connections via Belgrade's airport.
For Dubrovnik, this is another positive development regarding air traffic during the winter, when the number of international routes is typically significantly lower than in summer.
