The airline Air Malta suffered a bird strike on December 31, 2022 involving the Airbus A320 with registration 9H-AEP. This happened shortly after take-off at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.

The medium-haul jet was to fly to Luqa (Malta) under flight number KM377. Due to the bird strike, the pilots initiated a return landing at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. The plane touched down safely at around 18:20 p.m. According to official information, the bird strike happened around 17:50 p.m.

According to Air Malta, there were six crew members, five infants and 165 passengers on board. They were able to leave the Airbus A320 unharmed. The carrier rented a replacement plane from Smartlynx, which then took the travelers to Luqa. However, there were delays, because the Airbus A321 with the registration YL-LDR could only take off on January 1, 2023 at around 14:55 p.m.

"Air Malta would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused by this event, which is beyond Air Malta's control, and will at all times give the highest priority to the safety of passengers and crew"; said Air Malta in a statement.