Tunisair Express

Is Tunisair Express safe?

Reasonably, with gaps in what we can see. Tunisair Express, the regional airline of the Tunisair group, has had no accident in the last 20 years, and most of its flying is now on ATR 72-600 turboprops delivered from 2019. We score it 75, just above its parent Tunisair (74), whose jets are older.

Two things hold it back. It does not hold the IATA safety audit (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) that its parent has, and it is a very small airline about which little is published. Its history also includes a deadly ditching off Sicily in 2005, under its old name, Tuninter.

What happened to Tuninter flight 1153?

On 6 August 2005 a Tuninter ATR 72 flying holidaymakers from Bari to Djerba lost both engines over the sea and ditched about 26 kilometres off Palermo. The fuselage broke apart, and 16 of the 39 people on board died.

The cause began in the hangar. Mechanics had replaced the aircraft's fuel quantity indicator with one built for the smaller ATR 42, which reads the fuel probes differently. The gauges showed far more fuel than the tanks held, so the aircraft left Bari with too little. Italy's investigators also faulted the crew's handling of the emergency and the airline's checks.

The airline was renamed Sevenair in 2007 and Tunisair Express in 2011, but it is the same company and certificate. The crash happened 21 years ago, outside our 20-year window, so it does not count in the score. It is the reason we keep the accident record below the 90s, and the reason maintenance checks are what we would watch most closely here.

What has happened since?

Not much that reached the public record. In the last 20 years the Aviation Safety Network lists no accident for the airline. The incidents we found are minor: an ATR returned to Tunis in March 2019 after an air-conditioning fault, with passengers reporting smoke and a fuel smell, and the flight left seven hours later on a CRJ900.

The problem is what is missing. Tunisia's investigation office publishes few reports, most Tunisair Express flights are domestic, and so European records, which fill most of the incident lists for Tunisair and Nouvelair, barely cover it. A short list here is a sign of thin reporting as much as of safe flying, so we score incidents at 66 rather than in the 80s.

What does Tunisair Express fly?

In September 2019 the airline ordered three ATR 72-600s to replace its older ATR 72-500s and a Bombardier CRJ900. The first arrived that November and the second on 31 December 2019. The 72-600 is the current version of the type, with a modern glass cockpit. In July 2025 Tunisair Express renewed its pilot training deal with ATR for two years, covering initial and recurrent training, captain upgrades and simulator time.

In July 2025 Air Journal said the airline flew two ATR 72s. We found no report that the third 72-600, due in April 2020, ever arrived, and the 72-500s and the CRJ900 no longer appear; the airline's own site still describes that older fleet. With two aircraft, one in maintenance can mean cancelled domestic flights.

Who flies Tunisair Express?

Mostly people travelling inside Tunisia: Tunis to Djerba, Tozeur, Gafsa, Gabès and Tabarka, often to small airports in the interior with basic facilities and summer heat. Its booking site also lists short routes to Malta, Palermo, Catania and Naples. Some Tunisair tickets on domestic and short regional routes are flown by Tunisair Express, so check the flight number: UG means Tunisair Express, TU means Tunisair.

Flying Tunisair Express: what to check

• Allow for cancellations on small routes. With so few aircraft, a technical fault can cancel the only flight of the day to Tozeur or Gafsa. Keep a ground fallback, such as a louage (shared taxi), in mind.
• Check the flight number. UG flights are this airline's, with its own certificate and record, even when booked through Tunisair.
• Travel light. ATR overhead bins are small, and larger cabin bags often go in the hold at the aircraft door.

How we scored it

No accident in 20 years gives the accident record 85, held below the top band by the 2005 Tuninter ditching just outside the window. Oversight is 65 without 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. Two young ATR 72-600s (76), a thin incident record (66) and desert airports (66) bring Tunisair Express to 75.