Beond Airlines: Maldives’ All-Business Class Carrier

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 back, and had an overall positive experience.

The details of Beond Airlines

Beond Airlines is an all-business class airline with lofty expansion goals. The carrier’s planes are registered in the Maldives, but the company is headquartered in Dubai. The airline is billing itself as “the world’s first premium leisure airline.” I suppose the airline doesn’t consider La Compagnie to be exclusively leisure oriented, or else you’d think La Compagnie would take that title.

Let’s take a look at the carrier’s fleet, destinations, routes, fares, and more.

Beond Airlines fleet

Beond Airlines launched operations with an Airbus A319, which is registered in the Maldives (this is also where the company’s air operator’s certificate is). The first aircraft has the registration code 8Q-FBA, and it’s over 20 years old, having first flown for EasyJet, before being transfered to some other airlines. The A319 features just 44 business class seats, in a 2-2 configuration. I’ve gotta say, the Beond Airlines livery is gorgeous.

Beond Airlines has also started flying an Airbus A321 with the registration code 8Q-FBB, which is over 22 years old, having flown for British Midland, British Airways, and Fly2Sky, among other airlines. The A321 features 68 business class seats, also in a 2-2 configuration. Note that the airline is only partially using this for its regularly scheduled flights, and is otherwise operating some charter flights with the aircraft.

When the airline first launched, the plan was to order some brand new Airbus A321LRs, featuring the same general layout, but with improved range and fuel efficiency. However, no order has been placed there, so I wouldn’t count on that happening.

When the airline first launched, executives claimed that within five years, Beond Airlines would have 32 aircraft in its fleet. Those aspirations have been scaled back a bit, but not fully.

Beond Airlines destinations & routes

Beond Airlines has done quite a bit of tweaking to its route network since launch, and I imagine that will continue. As it stands:

• The airline flies 2x weekly between Male (MLE) and Zurich (ZRH), with a refueling stop in Dubai (DWC); the segment between Zurich and Dubai is a fifth freedom route, so you can fly the airline exclusively on that sector
• The airline flies 2x weekly between Male (MLE) and Milan (MXP), with a refueling stop in Dubai (DWC)
• The airline flies 2x weekly between Male (MLE) and Munich (MUC), with a refueling stop in Dubai (DWC)
• The airline flies 4x weekly between Male (MLE) and Dubai (DWC)
• The airline flies 3x weekly between Male (MLE) and Riyadh (RUH)

It’s important to note that Beond Airlines hasn’t exactly been operating its network very reliably. There are two problems:

• For some time, Beond Airlines was frequently canceling some flights at the last minute, including cutting some routes altogether with minimal notice; that doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue nowadays
• Beond Airlines has an absolutely horrific on-time performance, and many flights are several hours late; just take a look at the Flightradar24 page for the carrier’s A319, and see how many flights have the red symbol next to them, representing delays

At the time of launch, executives at the airline stated that the airline would serve 60 destinations within five years, using its 32 aircraft. Like I said, I don’t see that happening anymore.

Beond Airlines cabin & seats

The Beond Airlines inflight experience is actually quite nice. The airline has fully flat seats in a 2-2 configuration. The seats are designed by Optimares, and the airline has already ordered these seats for future aircraft, so you can expect them on other aircraft as well.

Rather than having traditional personal televisions, the airline is distributing tablets to passengers, and they can be placed in personal device holders. Rather disappointingly, the airline doesn’t offer Wi-Fi, which you’d think would be standard on an all-business class carrier.

It goes without saying that these aren’t cutting edge business class seats, but this is a leisure airline targeted at couples and families, so things like direct aisle access aren’t as important as on other airlines.

One other thing to note is that while the bulkhead seats and seats at the exits have large footwells on which you can place your feet, the other seats have a small cutout where you have to place your feet, which is significantly tighter.

As far as amenities go, Beond Airlines offers tableware from William Edwards, silverware in partnership with Robert Welch, and chilewich placemats and crystal glassware. The airline also has pretty great inflight catering, with very nice presentation.

Beond Airlines fares & inclusions

Beond Airlines has three different fare bands for business class, and there’s quite a bit of differentiation between them:

• The Delight Experience fare class includes 40kg of checked bags, 10kg of cabin baggage, offers seat assignments for a fee, doesn’t offer lounge access, and only offers ticket changes for a fee
• The Bliss Experience fare class incrementally offers seat assignments for free and lounge access
• The Opulence Experience offers 60kg of checked bags, 15kg of cabin baggage, and free ticket changes

As you can see, the entry level fares are quite “basic,” and don’t even include lounge access. I wouldn’t call that much of a “delight” for business class.

As far as fares go, prices have decreased considerably since launch. When the airline first launched, most of its business class fares were around $3,500 roundtrip, while now I’m finding many fares starting at around $2,500 roundtrip. That at least gives Beond Airlines a bit of a value advantage over competitors.

Unfortunately Beond Airlines’ one-way fares are generally significantly more than half the cost of a one-way trip. That’s a shame, because I think many people might consider flying the airline one-way but not roundtrip, given Beond Airlines’ limited schedule.

Beond Airlines management & investors

In case you’re wondering who is behind the airline, two major parties are SIMDI Group (a Maldivian company that provides products to the hospitality industry) and ARABESQUE (a UAE-based investment firm).

Here’s how Beond Airlines CEO Tero Taskila describes his vision for the airline:

“Welcome to Beond. Our aim is simple: to fly our customers to the most unique and unspoiled destinations where they can release their inner explorer on the most memorable vacation of their lives. Today is but the beginning of our vision for our customers, embodied by this beautiful aircraft — inside and out. We could not be more pleased to showcase it in Maldives, our home, and Dubai.”

Here’s how Beond Airlines Chief Strategy Officer Max Nilov describes the airline:

“Today is the realization of a dream I first had 20 years ago. I had a dream of this airline, for this aircraft, and for this experience for passengers. We have created a premium experience coupled with an operating philosophy that is unmatched.”

Here’s how Beond Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Said Sascha Feuerherd describes the airline:

“The response by customers and stakeholders has been excellent in our launch cities — which was to be expected. And now the interest has grown from other new origins on our route map. I look forward to greeting our first passengers as they board.”

Below is an interesting interview that CNN’s Richard Quest did with the company’s CEO closer to when the airline launched, sharing the vision for the company.

My take on the Beond Airlines concept

I haven’t been shy in sharing my thoughts on Beond Airlines. Having flown with the airline, I enjoyed my experience a lot more than I was expecting to. The soft product is excellent, with great food, drinks, and service. And when I flew, the plane was basically empty, which is always nice (well, nice for me, not so nice for the airline).

Now, I remain highly skeptical about the plan for Beond Airlines to primarily service the Maldives in the long run:

• There’s only so much that airlines can grow in the Maldives, since ultimately the destination is constrained by how many hotel rooms there are, and how much inter-island capacity there is
• The Maldives is a seasonal market, and is quieter over the summer months (in terms of the number of visitors, and in terms of hotel rates); when you have assets as expensive as aircraft, it’s really hard to make service work if the demand isn’t there year-round
• This airline faces a lot of competition, given how much air service the Maldives sees, and the fact that Beond Airlines doesn’t have connecting traffic or name recognition
• While an all-business class concept sounds sexy, the need to refuel on routes from Europe is a huge downside, since it essentially turns a 10-hour flight into two five-four flights, greatly limiting rest
• There’s something nice about flying on an all-business class jet, though between the lack of Wi-Fi and the tiny footwell at many seats, this won’t be competitive with some other business class products
• Operating service to the Maldives from 60 destinations seems totally unrealistic to me
• While Beond Airlines has now acquired two Airbus jets that are 20+ years old, I haven’t actually seen many details about the carrier’s plans to acquire Airbus A321LRs, which is what was touted at the beginning

All that being said, there are some ways I could see the airline pivoting and doing reasonably well:

• If the airline plans to fly 32 aircraft to 60 destinations, the airline really should be considering serving point-to-point markets that don’t include the Maldives, especially counter seasonally; there are plenty of other potentially lucrative point-to-point markets
• Even if not offering scheduled commercial service, I could see a fleet of planes configured like this doing pretty well on the leasing market, for everything from sports teams, to luxury tour groups, similar to the Four Seasons Private Jet
• While historically the concept of an all-business class airline hasn’t worked, broadly speaking, I think the concept has more potential than in the past, given how long range and fuel efficient jets have become (like the A220 and A321LR)
• It would be interesting if Beond Airlines could establish itself as a global premium leisure airline; admittedly getting permission to operate some routes will be tricky

So I’m utterly fascinated to see how this evolves. I’d love to see the airline succeed, though I think some major changes will be required before this airline is profitable.

Bottom line

Beond Airlines launched operations in late 2023. The airline is headquartered in Dubai, but operates jets registered in the Maldives out of Male Airport. Currently the airline flies an A319 with 44 business class seats, and also has an A321 with 68 business class seats.

This is an ambitious concept, especially when you consider the company’s long term goals. The airline has an uphill battle, though I’d love to see the company succeed.

What do you make of Beond Airlines?