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. I reviewed the airline last year, and the onboard product was super pleasant.
A lot about the company seems questionable, and it’s hard to make sense of what’s going on at the airline, as it sometimes pauses commercial flying for weeks at a time. This spring, the airline announced it would add 18 new destinations in 2025 and 2026, despite not having any more planes on order (at least as far as we know). Over six months later, zero of those routes have been added.
There’s now an interesting update, as Beond has added a new route, but it’s coming at the expense of another route, and it’s not one that the airline had been suggesting it would add.
In this post:
Beond Airlines’ Malé to Milan flight now operates via Red Sea
Historically, Beond has operated service from Malé (MLE) to Milan Malpensa (MXP) via Dubai World Central (DWC), with the following schedule:
B4080 Malé to Dubai departing 11:30AM arriving 3:05PM
B4080 Dubai to Milan departing 3:50PM arriving 8:20PM
B4081 Milan to Dubai departing 9:20PM arriving 6:50AM (+1 day)
B4081 Dubai to Malé departing 7:35AM arriving 1:05PM
However, effective immediately, the airline is adjusting this service, as flagged by AeroRoutes. Rather than operating the flight via Dubai, it’ll instead operate via Red Sea International (RSI), the airport serving Saudi Arabia’s huge new tourism development, with the following schedule:
B4080 Malé to Red Sea departing 12:15PM arriving 6:00PM
B4080 Red Sea to Milan departing 6:00PM arriving 9:20PM
B4081 Milan to Red Sea departing 10:20PM arriving 5:00AM (+1 day)
B4081 Red Sea to Malé departing 5:45AM arriving 2:05PM
The total travel distance here is roughly 100 miles longer in each direction. The airline has pick-up rights between both markets, so that means travelers can fly on Beond the whole way, or exclusively between Milan and Red Sea, or exclusively between Red Sea and Malé (I can’t imagine there’s much demand for that city pair!).
My take on Beond Airlines’ new Red Sea service
Saudi Arabia is of course trying to turn its Red Sea development into a big tourism destination, and good air connectivity helps with that. This is the first route to Red Sea International from Europe, as all other service is just regional.
I have to imagine that the Saudi Arabian government is offering significant incentives for operating this kind of service, so I suspect this is largely a play for subsidies. Fair enough. A few points:
- I’m curious if this means the airline just won’t serve alcohol on the entire journey, or if it just closes up the bar over Saudi Arabian airspace (only the latter is required in these situations, but many airlines take the former approach)
- This just adds some complexity in terms of staffing flights, since Beond crews are based in Dubai, so it’s an efficient refueling point in terms of changing crews without having to pay for hotels, etc.
- Interestingly Beond couldn’t sell its Milan to Dubai flight independently, so it was purely a technical stop; so even if the airline gets one or two people actually terminating at Red Sea, I suppose there’s some upside there
Bottom line
Beond Airlines is adjusting its Malé to Milan service. Rather than having a technical stop in Dubai, the flight will instead route via Red Sea, where the airline will have pick-up and drop-off rights. That means you’ll be able to fly the airline exclusively between Milan and Red Sea, or between Red Sea and Malé.
While this is different than the carrier’s typical strategy of routing everything via Dubai, I imagine there are some significant incentives at play here. Furthermore, without Dubai pick-up rights, the airline might as well try to tap into demand for a second market.
Now we just have to wait for the 18 new destinations that the airline mysteriously announced earlier this year, as there are no signs of any of those (totally normal, right?).
What do you make of Beond’s new Red Sea service?
The flight arrives and departs at 6pm? Is it a touch and go situation?
The new Red Sea resorts are going for a similar demographic as those on the Maldives are. Except somewhat less expensive and not as far of a distance from said target's base(s) of operation (Europe). Given that the Saudi government is likely subsidizing Beond to provide such a service, this makes perfect sense to me.
Those new Red Sea resorts do look beautiful. Not like the Maldives, but in their own unique way. And,...
The new Red Sea resorts are going for a similar demographic as those on the Maldives are. Except somewhat less expensive and not as far of a distance from said target's base(s) of operation (Europe). Given that the Saudi government is likely subsidizing Beond to provide such a service, this makes perfect sense to me.
Those new Red Sea resorts do look beautiful. Not like the Maldives, but in their own unique way. And, anyone who has a moral issue with the KSA probably should give the Maldives a hard pass as well.