Malév Ltd. (Hungarian: Malév Zrt.), which did business as Malév Hungarian Airlines (Hungarian: Magyar Légiközlekedési Vállalat, abbreviated Malév, and pronounced MAH-lev), was the flag carrier and principal airline of Hungary between 1946 and 2012. It had its head office in the Lurdy House in Budapest, with its main operations at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport. From there, the airline flew to 50 cities in 34 countries worldwide using a fleet of 22 aircraft. In its final years, Malév was a member of the Oneworld alliance, having joined 29 March 2007. On 3 February 2012, Malév grounded all planes and cancelled all flights because planes were held overseas for unpaid debts. On 14 February 2012 the Metropolitan Court of Budapest declared Malév Ltd. insolvent and ordered its liquidation.

Hungarian civil aviation was pioneered by airlines like Aero Rt. (founded 1910), Magyar Æeroforgalmi Rt. (MAEFORT) and Magyar Légiforgalmi Rt. (Malert). The widespread devastation of World War II forced these airlines to suspend service, and they were ultimately replaced by Malev as the national airline after the war. Malev was founded on 29 March, 1946, as the Hungarian-Soviet Civil Air Transport Joint Stock Company (Magyar-Szovjet Légiforgalmi Rt. also known as Maszovlet). The initial fleet consisted of 21-seat Li-2 passenger aircraft (the Soviet-licensed DC-3) and 3-seat Po-2 "taxis", used for precision air mail: sacks of mail were dropped from the aircraft when flying over its destination. In 1950, Malév's operating base moved from Budaörs to the newly opened airport at Ferihegy, where it has remained.