Tag Archives for beond.
I love premium products, and innovative ideas. So I’m rooting for Beond to succeed. But I’ve been skeptical of filling an all business class plane (most airlines go with a mix of products for a reason), based in a highly seasonal destination, operating only a few flights a week to each destination.
Fortunately on Thursday I had the opportunity to speak with the airline’s Chairman and CEO, Tero Taskila, to see whether he could turn around my skepticism.
The Maldives-based all business class airline has received its second leased aircraft, an Airbus A321 which will be fitted with 68 lie flat seats. It’s expected to fly between the Maldives and Milan, Dubai and Bangkok later in the year.
All business class airline BeOnd, based in the Maldives, has received its Air Operators Certificate, and has announced its first two destinations: Munich (beginning November 15) and Zurich (starting November 17). The carrier has an Airbus A319 outfitted with 44 lie flat seats, and actually serves both via Riyadh, which is an unannounced third destination.
Six months ago I wrote about BeOnd which plans to launch as an all-business class airline with a hub in the Maldives.
This seemed a stretch to me. But there are people with real airline experience involved in the project. Their CEO is a former Gulf Air and airBaltic executive. And they’ve just announced they’ve received funding and have plans to launch just a few months from now.
New all business class airline BeOnd plans to launch with a hub in Male, capital of the Maldives. If there’s a luxury resort destination attracting a clientele that might spring for such a service, the Maldives is on the short list. But the business model of flying 68 premium seats on board A321neos to 60 – 80 destinations seems.. insane?
They plan to launch with the neo but ultimately fly A321XLRs to reach Europe and Australia. And they claim they’re going to be subsidized by the government of the Maldives, to which I have to wonder.. why?
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
