In late 2023, we saw the launch of Beond Airlines, a fascinating premium airline startup. The airline launched operations just under a year ago, and quite a bit has changed since launch, so I wanted to take an updated look at the carrier. As many OMAAT readers may remember, I reviewed the airline some time…
Continue reading: Beond Airlines: Maldives’ All-Business Class Carrier
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
"That’s a shame, as I’d love to try the airline on one sector."
I thought you've flown them for one sector and reviewed them?
I know reuse a lot of your articles that have overlapping content, but some revisions and basic spot-checking would be really nice to keep the content fresh and up to date.
Nice update but I agree the way forward doesn't look too promising.
I had thought of trying a one-way but your pricing information suggests one-way is a problem (your report has a typo "Unfortunately Beond Airlines’ one-way fares are generally significantly more than half the cost of a one-way trip. That’s a shame,").
With 2 aircraft rotating to all those destinations the in time performance is bound up be poor if there any upstream delays. Apparently flights have poor load factors. I imagine they won’t be round long since etihad, emirates and Qatar have a far superior competitive advance and probably better product.
I understand why an airline tries this concept at Maldives, as there is a lot of focus on premium tourism with high end resorts or private islands for rent. However, it's rather questionable whether this concept will work. Adding extra fuel stops on flights from Europe isn't optimal, not offering connections to those few destinations it flies from doesn't help and not offering 'standard' premium amenities like lounge access or even seat selection in some of its tickets looks rather cheap for being premium. So in that case I guess it's much more convenient for most passengers to just book with a 'regular' airline and get all those amenities while ignoring the 'cattle class' in the back, all at about the same price. They probably get a better hard product too, there. And miles and points of course.
Also, just having 2 aircraft increases the risk that people get stranded in case anything happens. I just checked and found they have 2 weekly flights to Munich, for example. If one gets cancelled, then I'm sure they won't be paying for having you 3 or 4 more nights there and I can't imagine them rebooking you on any other available airline in business class either.
I'd definitely would like to try this airline as it seems like a fun concept and a complete niche player, but I won't choose them if I have any obligations anywhere near a planned flight.