Beond Airlines Business Class: Wow, This Is Nice!

And your plane actually took off and flew!

@ James K. -- Indeed! It seems like as of July 1, the airline had a bit of a reset, and is actually operating its full schedule, after a rough June. Well, at least for the first week. Let's hope/see if that continues.

"It will be interesting to see how Beond's business model evolves over time."

There is no business model. Beond is the result of somebody needing a place to stash some assets for a while. This is not so much a business as a cash washing machine.

Eight people? They won’t be in business in six months.

They have one aircraft and everything suggests flights are never full. They won’t be around too much longer. Every review I’ve seen reads they have less than a dozen passengers. It’s not sustainable

"Then again, I suppose many other people traveling to the Maldives are connecting in the Middle East anyway, so at least you get to stay off the plane."

Should this be, "...stay ON the plane"?

Great mini-review, fascinating to read about this experience!

Dubai, Riyadh and Zurich to the Maldives. Sounds like the oligarch express. Don’t they generally fly private?

How would you rank them compared to La Compagnie?

Food can't make up for using an airplane well beyond its range so having to make an unwelcome fuel stop.

Invest in a used 757 or get an A321XLR.

I am not sure I see how this gets a "Wow" in the header...
I like the look of the plane, but no direct aisle access puts an immediate question mark over the "wow". The food looks nice, but I wouldn't say it will set the world on fire (especially if you just left Milan).
The deal breaker for me is the single plane model.
If I book a holiday in the Maldives, I'd like to think that I will get the most out of it. So many things can go wrong with a single plane airline (most of them entirely outside their control) and I am just not all that keen on losing a day, or spending hours on end at an airport.

Depends how well they're capitalized...

Agree. The experience was as expected, so I do not think it gets a wow. I also agree one plane is a disadvantage and so is the cost.

Like learning about the startup @lucky. Doubtful that they will be profitable but seems like the 2x2 would only work places like here and Hawaii on the old Hawaiian airlines business class. Whether you say wow or not it’s totally up to you.

2.5 hours late - do you qualify for EU compensation?

@ Morgan -- The delay would have to be three hours to qualify for compensation, sadly.

@ Neil -- I'd say that Beond has slightly better seats, and much better food. However, La Compagnie has the advantage of having a newer plane that can fly nonstop, free Wi-Fi, and seat back entertainment. If both airlines were theoretically flying in the same market (which will never happen), I'd probably choose Beond.

@ Mike -- Totally agree about the issue with having just a single plane, and the issues that can cause. As far as the "wow" goes, direct aisle access honestly isn't always a good thing if virtually everyone is traveling as a couple (as was the case here). For example, if I were traveling with my spouse to a holiday destination, I might prefer this product to Lufthansa Allegris, where there's really no option to sit together.

@ digital_notmad -- Fixed, thank you!

@ MarcoLA -- While those markets have a lot of wealthy people, only a tiny percentage of people fly private to a place like the Maldives, especially when there's a decent connection otherwise.

@ Icarus -- Yeah, that's obviously a major problem. I've heard the Riyadh flights are pretty full, but I haven't seen anyone who took a Europe route report the plane being even remotely full.

I think they are in a bit more of a conundrum than just the plane's range. As long as they can't fill those planes fully at high fares their business model likely depends on the cost efficiencies out of Dubai, from low cost fuel, to not laying over crews, to not needing as much inflight crew rest, to access to a lot of trained personnel not needing relocation by poaching UAE-based personnel.

Even if they had the range to fly non stop, they would need a lot more crew and a lot more fuel out of a place where there is neither. Male is just not a great airline hub.

Considering the passenger capacity, I wonder if just the A319 neo could cover those routes non-stop. Not that I think they can actually afford those non stop flights.

out of curiosity, since Beond doesn't seem to be that successfull, only a fraction of what is "parked" will make it back. Considering money laundry is otherwise much cheaper, why do it via such a venture?

Yeah, this one-stop issue will surely be the downfall for any European passengers.

Why would anyone choose this airline over, say, Qatar, Emirates or Etihad who offer better frequencies with a similar stop?

So you’re disappointed they don’t have an espresso machine on board. Really?

I remember reading Lucky's review of La Compagnie when they first started and thinking they wouldn't last long either. I'm all for more competition so I hope it works out for Beond as well

That makes no sense. Why put your assets into a business that is going to hemorrhage money? By the time you are done with it, there will be nothing left of your assets.

There are other and better ways to launder money and hide it from tax authorities.

Thanks for the review. I expected the onboard experience to be good, however all the other factors are saying no-go...
Do they have fully employed crew or just use rent-a-helping-hand when they actually fly? Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Why would anyone choose this airline? Price.
For the UK - if I get a short hop with Ryanair from a local airport to Milan and stay the night in a hotel it still works out nearly £1000 per person cheaper (return) than Emirates out of Heathrow.
Plus I don't need to worry about missing a short connection if the flight is late leaving.
The only thing preventing me from booking for August next year is concern over whether they will have gone bust by then.

Milan isn't under 6 hours, it's a bit more