Beond – pronounced ‘beyond’ – aims to create a ‘private jet’ experience using narrow-body aircraft instead of their wide-body cousins that oft in use on Maldivian routes, and comes with the promise of an all-premium cabin with lie-flat seats that share components with Ferrari cars.
“We want to do something completely new,” the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer Sascha Feuerherd said to CNN.
“We deliberately chose to go for a luxury destination, which is a little paradise by itself, where people travel to relax and spend quality time. We want to ensure that they can travel there also in comfort, so that they are arriving fully relaxed.”
The airline’s primary headquarters will be located in Male’, more precisely in Velana International Airport (VIA), and will commence maiden voyage in Autumn 2023.
The airline will reportedly operate a small fleet of Airbus A319 aircraft initially before switching to larger Airbus A321s. So far, Dubai and Delhi are the first two confirmed destinations for Beond.
Beond plans to choose its destinations carefully and fly customers directly to the island instead of going through a connection in a hub.
“We’re going for the airports with big catchment areas, with a certain wealth behind it, and then fly people directly,” Feuerherd said.
In some markets, Beond plans to enter into direct competition with other carriers and set itself apart with a higher-quality service.
“The Maldives is one of those markets that can fill an aircraft, even a mostly economy class cabin,” Feuerherd added. “But that is making the Maldives lose some high-end passengers, because if they don’t find adequate transportation, they’d rather go somewhere else. That’s where we really come into the game.”
Beond will offer a total of just 44 seats on its Airbus A319s though it can carry up to 156 passengers in an all-economy layout.
The larger A321s that are slated to enter service in 2024 will have 68 seats on a plane that normally has room for up to 220 economy passengers.
Beond is jointly owned by UAE-based Arabesque and Maldivian hospitality company SIMDI. The company’s operating certificate is from the Maldives as a designated carrier, and has a 50-year agreement with the Maldivian government.
Although the airline is still not forthcoming about its future destinations, Feuerherd said that once at capacity by the end of 2024, approximately 60% of the airline’s traffic will come from Europe with around 20 destinations.
Its Asian routes will include Japan, South Korea and China; all three are major Orient markets to the Maldives.