Unfortunately I can’t say I’m surprised by this situation, but it’s still pretty bad, and one can’t help but wonder how numbered the carrier’s days are…
In this post:
Beond Airlines can’t afford to pay staff salaries
Beond Airlines launched operations in 2023, and it brands itself as the world’s first premium leisure airline. The company is headquartered in Dubai, but primarily operates flights to and from the Maldives. The airline currently has a fleet of two aircraft, including one A319 and one A321.
I reviewed the airline in 2024, and the onboard product was super pleasant, so I was a fan of the passenger experience. However, since the beginning, I’ve been saying that the business model makes no sense. This spring, we saw the airline “suspend” regularly scheduled commercial operations through the fall, coinciding with the low season in the Maldives.
We’ve also seen the airline promise massive growth, setting up subsidiaries in everywhere from Bahrain, to Saudi Arabia, to the United States. Respectfully, if your core business isn’t working, it seems like greatly scaling it and setting up new subsidiaries probably isn’t the solution either.
Anyway, when the airline suspended operations, I posed the question of whether this might signal the end of the airline. While that still remains to be seen, there’s one sign that’s not at all encouraging.
A Fly Guy’s Cabin Crew Lounge reports on a company memo sent by CEO Tero Taskila, which reveals that the company is two months behind on paying salaries, as it awaits additional funding. I have to give Taskila credit for at least not gaslighting employees, and being honest about the current reality.
He wrote that “we are two months in arrears, and I know what that means for you and your families. I will not dress that up.” I guess to get additional funding, the airline is relying on approval from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), to launch a venture there, though that deadline has now slipped.
He goes on to write that “as soon as funds come through, payments will be released. I will not give you a payment date I am not certain I can meet.”
What’s perhaps most controversial is that the CEO is asking staff to continue working without pay, as the airline operates a limited number of charter flights. “We have a charter flight tomorrow and quite a busy schedule in the coming week. Those flights matter. Not because they fix the salary issue, but because every operated flight protects the company’s ability to make good on what we owe you.”
This is a combination of bad luck and a bad business model
Credit where credit’s due, I actually think Beond’s CEO is trying to build a “real” airline, genuinely believes in the concept, and wants to succeed. That’s more than we can say about some other “airline startups.” Every interaction I’ve had with him has been pleasant and respectful, and he actually has quite a bit of industry experience.
It goes without saying that several factors here have posed a major challenge for Beond Airlines. The most significant is that a huge increase in jet fuel prices hits any airline that’s not very profitable in the first place the hardest, especially if they don’t have the liquidity to weather a rough period.
Furthermore, essentially operating all flights with a refueling stop in the Middle East isn’t ideal, in terms of passenger flow between Europe and the Maldives, since many people want to avoid the region. The airline shifted its stopover point to other cities, but that also adds complexity, given that most Beond crews are based in Dubai.
But none of this changes the fact that the business model just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in the first place, in my opinion. The Maldives has highly seasonal demand, especially among more premium travelers, and on top of that, essentially requiring a refueling stop in the Middle East makes it hard to get any real sleep when flying on Beond. Add in the lack of Wi-Fi, and it’s not really that compelling of a passenger experience, especially with the lack of frequencies, lack of operational reliability, etc.
Quite honestly, what I’ve found most concerning, though, is Beond’s constant overpromising and underdelivering on growth, and this goes back to before the airline even launched. If you’re publicly traded and your forecasts never match the actual results, you’re dinged massively, and investors have no confidence. That’s kind of the vibe here, except the company isn’t publicly traded.
In April 2025, the airline announced it would expand to 18 new destinations in 2026. That just didn’t happen. Period. And it made no sense, because what was the plan to acquire planes? Then in November 2025, the airline announced it would set up subsidiaries all over the place. In the United States, that was supposed to be in partnership with New Pacific Airlines… which liquidated two weeks after the announcement.
This is just not how you create trust, and it felt like every announcement from this airline was intended to try to get new investors by promising the sky, rather than an actual reflection of reality.
Bottom line
All-business class airline Beond hasn’t paid its staff in two months, and doesn’t know when it’ll be able to do so. Meanwhile the airline is continuing to ask staff to work charter flights without pay. It seems that paying staff is contingent upon approval of a new subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, and that keeps getting delayed.
I feel horribly for the staff involved, since promises of money at some point in the future don’t pay bills. With the airline having suspended regularly scheduled operations in the spring, one wonders if we may ever see another regularly scheduled flight from the airline…
What do you make of this Beond Airlines situation?
It’s a bit confusing to me.
Including the legality.
How is it an airline that’s based in Dubai (UAE) with no aircrafts under the UAE aircraft registry?
They may have an “office” in Dubai but there head quarters must be in the country where the aircrafts are registered which is the Maldives.
Can someone correct my understanding if I’m wrong?
According to Airhex.com the country of registration / operating certificate: Maldives.
However, the headquarters are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, according to Wiki.
The login names users “Plane Jane”, “Jessica” and one or two others in the past, would appear to favoured by one and the same person. That person is clearly a compulsive, aggressive, psychologically disturbed individual. With a particularly foul mouth on them, so much so that nobody would ever consider addressing them as ladies.
I often use the words of Thomas Michael Bond, to describe such troubled individuals as being a “Bear of very little...
The login names users “Plane Jane”, “Jessica” and one or two others in the past, would appear to favoured by one and the same person. That person is clearly a compulsive, aggressive, psychologically disturbed individual. With a particularly foul mouth on them, so much so that nobody would ever consider addressing them as ladies.
I often use the words of Thomas Michael Bond, to describe such troubled individuals as being a “Bear of very little brain”.
Notwithstanding, I am certain that Ben, will appreciate their efforts to support his click count, while others enjoy mocking them for their intellectual inadequacies. Thank you TWD if it is you who is being driven to despair.
OK, Beond is screwed. Let's move on...
You should be so lucky, ducky …. :-)
I am curious how these airlines (Air Belgium for instance) attract decent talent? From your reviews, the cabin crew and flight crew seem to be coming from reputable global carriers. Did they choose to leave to take a chance on a new airline or were they terminated and were looking for a new opportunity? Makes me wonder because I feel for the staff. If they do go under, I hope they can find employment elsewhere.
Work life balance.
If you seek an all-business, all-lie-flat airline, that regularly flies between the US and Europe, and that actually pay its people and its bills, please consider... La Compagnie. EWR-ORY/MXP/NCE.
Please end your life already.
Keep. Yourself. Safe.
How on earth is this relevant to an article about airline flying to Maldives? It has literally nothing to do with the US.
One has to wonder if Mr T. Dunn, was the analyst who advised them when they were drafting their business model.
@AeroB13a, why are you so fascinated with Tim? This was a totally unrelated article. I actually like some of Tim's comments.
This is an online world that rewards chronic mouth-breathers filling up comment sections in every niche of the Internet, and one must feel the most rewarded
Me too Ben, when Timmy is anthropomorphising Delta by assuming it has beliefs, desires or feelings …. :-)
Ricky, I'm not even sure that's the real Aero, because it's merely 'Guest' not 'Diamond' and there is a fella who likes to impersonate some of the regulars on here.
This should be easy to solve: only people with valid logins can post. There are lots of sites that operate comments in this way.
Nah, weekendsurfer, that shouldn't be necessary; this is an outlier issue. Those other sites are either so large that they need it, or have very little commentary. I hope Ben keeps it simple. He should be able to see who's using which email, etc. and other things on the back-end to verify who's who, if really needed.
@weekendsurfer likes his/her opinion to be censored and controlled.
A freedom of thought community like here, welcomes Tim Dunn to an extent and us fellow readers call out on his fluff. You might be annoyed by Tim. But his presence allows us to see what a big fat lier he is and rest of us providing insights that really matters whether it's DL UA or other airline.
But we do give these fanatics an...
@weekendsurfer likes his/her opinion to be censored and controlled.
A freedom of thought community like here, welcomes Tim Dunn to an extent and us fellow readers call out on his fluff. You might be annoyed by Tim. But his presence allows us to see what a big fat lier he is and rest of us providing insights that really matters whether it's DL UA or other airline.
But we do give these fanatics an opportunity to prove them wrong.
The most pathetic ones are the fake imposters. Since everyone here is already using a form of an alias, there is absolutely no reason to pretend to be someone you're not. It's not like 1990 or AeroB13a really cares if someone is faking a made up username.
There are more identifying information on the backend that Ben can absolutely see. Only the pathetic morons think they can get away with a fake name.
Well said, Eskimo (real or fake)
How could any thinking person actually disagree with you Eskimo? I think that I had better give myself a ‘Trigger Warning’ to stop agreeing with you! …. :-)
"The Anus" is at it yet AGAIN, much to nobody's surprise! This crazed, crying lowlife is well known for "spewing 24/7 crap", "a brain of extremely small size", "false claims of fornication" that are "Totally ficticious". Sod you, you fucking fake Brit! COCKNEY!!!!!!!!!!
@Ricky
It's called TDS......Tim Derangement Syndrome
Gambit, you got me good! BAH!
Most airlines will be worse because of "fees" , high executive pay , poor service , and crowded , twisted seats .
You mean high pilot pay, correct?
Man I feel for the staff. "Please work more so we can keep the lights on" Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
The least they could have done is given them a 10% bump on pay but what good is 10% on -100%. No Bueno situation.
Rest assured, at least the top executives are still getting paid; the front-line workers, probably not. Sad.