Avion Express

Is Avion Express safe?

Yes, on its record. Avion Express has had no accident in about 20 years of flying, it holds an EU certificate from Lithuania, and IATA's registry lists it as having passed the IATA Operational Safety AuditIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary (IOSA). We score it 80. What holds it back is an older A320 fleet, a runway excursionRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary at its home airport in 2024, and an open question over how one of its captains was hired.

You will almost never buy a ticket from Avion Express. It is an ACMI airline: other airlines rent its Airbus A320s with pilots, cabin crew, maintenance and insurance, and sell the seats under their own flight numbers. If your booking says "operated by Avion Express", this is the record that applies.

Which airlines use Avion Express?

The list changes every season. In 2026 the company named Eurowings, Transavia and Air Algérie as clients and flew holiday charters for the Lithuanian tour operator Novaturas. In summer 2026 it based one A320 in Yerevan for FlyOne Armenia and another in Bucharest for TAROM. In 2025 it flew for Tunisair between Tunis and Paris, and in earlier years for Condor out of Germany.

Avion Express belongs to Avia Solutions Group, which calls itself the world's largest ACMI group. It has grown into three airlines, each with its own certificate. The Lithuanian company is the original one. Avion Express Malta received a Maltese certificate in 2019 and became the larger of the two in Europe: before spring 2026, Aviation.Direct counted 17 A320s and one A321 on the Lithuanian register against 37 A320s on the Maltese one. Avion Express Brasil received a Brazilian certificate in February 2025 and had two A320s by the end of that year, flying for Flybondi of Argentina and on charters. It says it completed the IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit in 2026, and IATA's IOSA registry confirms it: all three certificates, Lithuanian, Maltese and Brazilian, are listed there.

Demand fell in 2026. In April the company said it would hand 15 aircraft back to their lessors, blaming airspace closures and fuel costs, and in October its fleet pages listed five A320s on the Lithuanian certificate.

What happened at Vilnius in 2024?

On 3 February 2024 an Avion Express A320 flying from Milan Bergamo landed on runway 19 at Vilnius, veered right off the paved surface onto soft ground, rolled across a turn-off and came back onto the runway a few hundred metres later. The crew then taxied to the stand. Nobody among the 179 passengers and 6 crew was hurt. The aircraft was damaged and stayed on the ground until 25 June 2024, when it flew again after repairs.

Lithuania's investigators classed the event as a serious incident and opened an investigation, with help from Germany's BFU. No report had been published by October 2026. Because the investigating board did not call it an accident, it counts in our incidents score, not the accident record. A runway excursionRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary is still one of the event types that matter most, and we will update the page when the report gives a cause.

What about the captain investigation?

In November 2025 the German outlet aeroTELEGRAPH reported that a pilot who had flown as an Avion Express captain in summer 2025, including on flights for Eurowings, may have previously been only a first officer at Garuda Indonesia and may have falsified his record as a captain. Avion Express said his licence was genuine and checked by the authorities, that the question was his experience in command, and that he had declared more than 10,000 flying hours. It suspended him on hearing the claims, he resigned, and aviation regulators in several countries are checking the documents.

We describe this but do not score it yet: the claim is unconfirmed, and an open regulator check is not a finding. If the investigation confirms that a captain was hired on false records, it will count against the airline's crew vetting.

How old are the planes?

Older than average. The five A320s listed in October 2026 have Airbus serial numbers from 2828 to 4448. The newest two were built in 2009 and 2010, and the other three are older, from the mid-2000s. The A320 has fly-by-wireFly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary controls and a long, good record, and well-maintained jets of this age fly safely every day, but this is the first-generation A320ceo, not the current neo. The other incidents on the record were technical: in May 2018 leaking engine seals put oil fumes into the cabin air of an A320 flying for Condor, and in April 2025 an electrical problem sent a Tunisair flight to Ajaccio.

Before you fly Avion Express

• Look at the operator line on your booking. Compensation and rebooking go through the airline that sold the ticket.
• Expect a standard A320 with 180 seats and a crew briefed to your airline's service, often with different uniforms.
• For Brazil and Argentina, check which certificate flies you. Avion Express Brasil is a separate airline under Brazil's regulator, and its record starts in 2025.

How we scored it

A clean 20-year accident record (90) and EU oversight with IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary (90) carry the score. The older fleet (58) and the incidents (72), led by the Vilnius runway excursionRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary, cost the most. Changing airports and clients from season to season keep the operating environment at 66.