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'Luxury leisure': Startup airline Beond to launch Maldives flights with all lie-flat seating
12.10.2023 - 19:35 / thepointsguy.com
A new airline plans to launch operations to a top vacation destination next month aboard aircraft with all premium seating.
Startup carrier Beond (pronounced "beyond") plans to fly customers to the Maldives on narrow-body planes filled with lie-flat seats.
With just a single aircraft and three routes to start, company leaders hope to rapidly expand the carrier's fleet and reach in the coming months.
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Beond unveiled its inaugural aircraft at dual launch events on Wednesday in Dubai and at its operating base of Male's Velana International Airport (MLE) in the Maldives.
Starting with just a single Airbus A319 aircraft, Beond will seat 44 passengers in entirely premium-style accommodations. By the end of the year, the airline hopes to add an Airbus A321 to its fleet, with more long-range A321 deliveries expected beginning in the spring of 2024.
Beond's founder and CEO Tero Taskila dubs the airline the world's first "luxury leisure" carrier.
Related: The best ways to get to the Maldives on points and miles
"It's targeting people who are seeking luxury experiences in travel," Taskila said at a news conference in Dubai on Wednesday. "We have, really, a niche where the product has been designed with the luxury, leisure traveler in mind."
Beond will initially fly three routes between Male and:
Additionally, the airline plans to launch new routes to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) in Dubai and Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) beginning in late March.
Taskila set an ambitious target for Beond's next few years, too, pledging to grow the carrier's fleet to 32 aircraft and 60-plus destinations out of the Maldives over the next five years.
The company is not revealing much else about its future potential routes, and it's unclear whether it might someday serve the U.S.
Certainly, though, there are distance limitations to its fleet. Beond's aircraft — all in the single-aisle, A320 family — will have to make short refueling stops in Dubai on certain European routes. This might slightly dampen the airline's appeal of serving the Maldives directly.
Asked about any plans to attract U.S. travelers or serve North America in the future, a Beond spokesperson told TPG that Male is just the carrier's first planned hub and that others are planned for the future.
The idea behind Beond is that you get a premium experience no matter your seat, not to mention a direct (though not necessarily nonstop on all routes) connection to a bucket-list vacation destination for many.
Beond will offer limousine service for travelers from their homes to the airport (included with all fares except lower-level tickets).
On board, the aircraft is designed
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