Avion Express Malta

Is Avion Express Malta safe?

Yes, on the record it has built since 2019. Avion Express Malta has had no accident since Malta issued its certificate, it flies under EU safety rules, and it holds 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. We score it 81. Its A320s are second-hand, the oldest built in 2005, and in the last four years several of them have turned back with technical faults, each handled without anyone hurt.

Passengers rarely choose Avion Express Malta. It is an ACMI airline, renting its aircraft with pilots, cabin crew, maintenance and insurance to other airlines, which sell the seats under their own names. If your booking says "operated by Avion Express Malta", this record applies to your flight.

How does it relate to Avion Express?

The two are sister companies in Avia Solutions Group, run from Vilnius by the same management and sharing training and A320s. Each holds its own certificate, though, and each has its own page here. Avion Express is the original Lithuanian airline. The Maltese company received its certificate in May 2019 and grew faster: before spring 2026, Aviation.Direct counted 37 A320s on the Maltese register, twice the Lithuanian number.

Then demand dropped. In April 2026 the group said it would hand 15 aircraft back to their lessors as European airlines cut summer plans over airspace closures and fuel prices. In October 2026 the fleet pages listed 18 A320s under the Maltese certificate.

Who does it fly for?

Eurowings is the client you are most likely to meet: most recent events on AeroInside were on Eurowings flights from Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart. In its first summer the airline flew for Norwegian out of Oslo. From 2024 it flew A320s in Mexico for Viva Aerobus, whose own A320neos were grounded for Pratt & Whitney engine inspections; Avion Express says it also arranged for Viva's own pilots to fly some of the aircraft. Viva Aerobus remains the airline that sold the ticket, but on Avion Express Malta crews it is this record that counts. In 2025 the group signed a similar deal with Volaris.

What is on its record?

No accident, and a handful of technical events, all ending in a safe landing:

• Oslo, September 2019. A fuel filter warning on an engine sent a Norwegian flight to Palma back to Oslo after a hold to burn fuel.
• Berlin, May 2023. Climbing out for Palma on a Eurowings flight, the A320 lost the fluid in its green hydraulic system. The crew lowered the landing gear with the backup system and landed back at Berlin.
• Gulf of Mexico, December 2024. The cabin lost pressure at 36,000 feet on a Viva Aerobus flight. The crew made an emergency descent and diverted to Monterrey.
• Hamburg, October 2025. A smell of electrical burning in the cabin on a Eurowings flight from Rome led the crew to call fire crews to meet the aircraft. Passengers said they heard no announcements.
• Stuttgart, May 2026. A landing gear warning after take-off brought a Eurowings flight to Bilbao back to Stuttgart.

None was investigated as a serious incident that we could find, and in each the crew followed the book. Together they are the kind of record you expect from older, hard-worked jets: no single alarm, but more than a young fleet would show.

In November 2025 a former captain of the Avion Express group came under investigation over his record of command experience; reports named Avion Express without saying which certificate he flew under. We describe it on the Avion Express page.

Who checks it?

Transport Malta's Civil Aviation Directorate issued the certificate and applies EASA rules, as for every EU airline. The FAA rates Malta Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary, and Avion Express Malta is on IATA's member list, which requires 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, and on IATA's IOSA registry itself (checked 28 October 2026; we did not read the expiry date). That gives the oversight score of 90 we give EU airlines with IOSA, the same as Heston Airlines.

Before you fly Avion Express Malta

• Check the "operated by" line. On Eurowings, Viva Aerobus or holiday charters, the airline that sold the ticket handles delays and compensation.
• Listen to the cabin crew if something feels wrong. On a wet-leased jet the crew work to their own airline's procedures, and they will tell you what to do in an unusual landing.

How we scored it

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) and a clean seven-year accident record (88) carry the score. The used A320 fleet (62) costs the most, the technical returns keep incidents at 78, and seasonal moves between Europe and Mexico put the operating environment at 66.