Offering a new option in luxury air travel, business-class-only airline Beond is ready to take off this fall.
Ahead of its November launch, the Maldives-headquartered airline shared a slew of new details recently, including the destinations it’ll be heading to and its luxe in-flight amenities.
This business class-only airline will fly you to the Maldives
Beond will operate flights to Male, Maldives, from Munich, Germany; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Zurich, Switzerland on an Airbus A319 aircraft (with A321ceo planes to follow). Its fleet will have both a 44-seat and a 68-seat option.
“It is a bespoke aircraft created for us with a lot of attention to detail,” CEO Tero Taskila explained of the aircrafts’ interiors at a press conference. “Every seat is lie-flat, 180 degrees, with ample space for you to have a good night’s sleep.”
The airline has plans to grow to 60 cities and 32 aircraft in the next five years, a Beond spokesperson said. Still, its focus will remain on the Maldives, one of the world’s most alluring vacation destinations that are home to world-class resorts and luxurious all-inclusive — not to mention an ever-growing number of dreamy hotels.
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While Beond has not yet announced service to the United States, it promises to be an intriguing alternative to the big Gulf carriers, at least for visitors who are already in Europe or the Middle East. In the coming months, Beond will add flights from Milan Malpensa Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai.
“Beond is something unique and completely different, as the world’s first luxury leisure airline,” Taskila said. “This is just the start of realising the Beond vision.”
Pricing for the premium airline is on par with what passengers pay on other niche carriers, such as Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Award–winning La Compagnie, which also offers an only-lie-flat experience.
“At the moment, we are selling the seats [for less than] USD 3,000 (INR 2,49,763) [round trip] out of Riyadh,” Taskila said, adding that “we have set our sights on always being the price leader.”
While Beond will offer in-flight entertainment, via Apple iPads and AirPods at every seat, one thing you won’t find on board is in-flight Wi-Fi.
“People want to escape that hustle and bustle, being connected all the time,” Taskila said. “If you are like me, and you have the opportunity [to log on], you will use that and never switch off, so we’re pioneering digital detox at the moment.”
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(Hero and feature image credit: Beond)
This story first appeared on travelandleisure.com
All currency conversions were done at the time of writing
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