Looking for one-way car hire in Malta? Here is the honest answer, up front: we do not offer it. Every Nova Drive rental is collected and returned at the same point. On an island this small that costs you far less than you might expect, and what we do offer covers most of the reasons people search for one-way in the first place.
Nova Drive does not offer one-way hires. Every rental is handed over in person and handed back in person at the same point, as standard at Malta International Airport, Park East, with meet-and-greet in both directions. There is no chain of depots around the island and no second branch to leave the keys at, and we would rather say so plainly at the top of the page than let you discover it at the booking stage.
The usual reason for wanting one-way hire is sound: on a mainland road trip, returning the car to the city you started in can mean hours of driving back the way you came. That logic holds almost everywhere, which is exactly why it is worth explaining why Malta is the exception.
Malta is roughly 27 km end to end, and nowhere on the island is much more than about an hour’s drive from the airport, even the far north. Most bases are well inside that ceiling: Sliema and St Julian’s are around 20 minutes away, Mdina and Rabat about 15 to 20, and Bugibba and Qawra at the other end of the island roughly half an hour.
That changes the arithmetic completely. A one-way drop-off earns its keep where it saves you hundreds of kilometres; in Malta it would save you minutes. And since most visitors fly home from the same airport they landed at, the drive back to the start is usually a drive you were making anyway, ending at Park East a short walk from departures. If you are new to the island, our Malta car hire guide covers how short the distances really are.
Most one-way searches are really about convenience at the two ends of a trip, and that we can help with:
Between them, those cover most of the reasons people search for one-way hire. Delivery and collection are arranged directly with the team, person to person, so if you are not sure what would suit your dates, ask through our contact page and you will get a straight answer, with a fee that reflects the actual location rather than a flat surcharge.
Some one-way searches are really a Malta-to-Gozo question, and the good news is that no Gozo drop-off is needed. The Ċirkewwa to Mġarr vehicle ferry is drive-on, drive-off: your hire car crosses with you, spends the day or the week on Gozo with you, and comes back with you, with vehicle fares paid at the terminal. You then return the car at the agreed point on Malta as normal.
Our guide to taking a hire car to Gozo walks through the crossing step by step, and our Malta and Gozo car rental page covers planning a trip across both islands.
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