April the 9th, 2026 – United Airlines is currently considering introducing more flights to Croatia despite the increasing geopolitical concerns and fuel crisis.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, United Airlines is set to expand its presence in Croatia by launching seasonal flights between Newark Airport (New York) and Split later this month, complementing its existing service to Dubrovnik, and reportedly considering flights to Zadar.
Based on indirect traffic flows, Zadar’s busiest unserved market in the United States is New York, followed by Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami and Boston, according to Ex-Yu Aviation News. United Airlines recently noted that demand for travel to Croatia is continuing to grow among American travellers.
“We’ve well and truly established ourselves as a leader by launching flights to bold, trendy destinations,” they stated from United. Underlining the importance of its transatlantic joint venture with Lufthansa on routes from its American hubs to Frankfurt and Munich, United Airlines added that its passengers prefer direct flights over connecting services.
“With more aircraft joining our fleet, we can add more destinations to our list,” they stated from the company. Leila Krešić-Jurić, Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board’s Office for North America, said that America undoubtedly remains the most promising market, especially in the premium and luxury segments.
“More and more large investments make Croatia’s high-end tourism offer even more encouraging. From American brands such as Hyatt Regency and Curio by Hilton to the Materra wellness hotel near Osijek, we are especially eager to see the upcoming investments announced by Croatian groups such as Maistra and Valamar,” she said.
The US is otherwise Croatia’s largest long-haul market and generates the largest volume of visitor traffic from distant regions. In 2025, Croatia recorded 850,000 arrivals and 2.4 million overnight stays realised by American tourists, which represents an annual growth of nine percent in arrivals and ten percent in overnight stays.
