Latin American expansion: Avion Express Brasil celebrates first commercial flight
August 23, 2025
Avion Express Brasil has officially launched operations, with its first commercial flight now completed.
The São Paulo-based subsidiary of Avion Express, which operates a fleet of just a single 19-year-old Airbus A320 aircraft (registered PR-MLD, MSN 03601), carried out its debut service this week.
Flight tracking platforms showed takeoff at 16:38 local time from Belo Horizonte-Confins, landing at 20:40 in Mendoza, Argentina, with flight number AEB9002.
Local media speculated that the aircraft was charted to transport football team Clube Atlético Mineiro to Argentina for a game.
Avion Express: charting a new course in Brazil
The ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) and charter operator – part of the Lithuanian group Avia Solutions – plans to use the new Brazilian entity to push expansion into the growing Latin American market.
Avion Express Brasil’s chief executive, Esteban Jauregui Lorda, described the occasion as a turning point for the parent company.
“The first flight in a new partnership is such a symbolic moment – it means a new beginning, trust, and collaboration.
“This is the first partnership we’ve been preparing for, and it’s a proud day for our team.
“I’m sure this is just the start of our ACMI services in the region.
“We’re growing, recruiting more crew members, and have many exciting projects ahead.”
The company aims to deploy up to 10 Airbus A320 family aircraft by year’s end and expand its fleet to 25 aircraft by 2027–2028.
Meeting the seasonal traffic demand
Avion Express Brasil is expected to focus on meeting the region’s seasonal traffic demand and providing back-up capacity to local carriers, building on the parent company’s established experience in ACMI operations across Europe.
The carrier has been steadily expanding its workforce in Brazil in anticipation of this growth.
The company sees the launch as an opportunity to strengthen its ACMI services across Latin America, an area where demand for flexible short- and medium-term capacity is rising.
According to Avion Express, ACMI is still relatively unfamiliar in Latin America, but travellers in the region are likely to encounter “white tail” aircraft such as Avion Express Brasil’s A320 more frequently in the future.
Darius Kajokas, CEO of Avion Express, said at the time that the company received its AOC earlier this year: “Avion Express Brasil AOC represents a significant step forward for ACMI solutions, as it opens up a new market and introduces innovative solutions for capacity management to airlines.
“We are deeply grateful to ANAC [the Brazilian regulator] for recognising the value of this expansion and for supporting it.
“With the aviation industry experiencing cyclical demand shifts, our ACMI solutions will provide to Brazilian airlines the flexibility they need to optimise their operations.
“We are confident that our services will help bridge capacity gaps while maintaining the highest standards of efficiency and reliability.”
