Summary
- Beond, an all-business class leisure airline, plans to launch in November 2023 with routes from Zurich and Munich to the Maldives, using Riyadh as a refueling point.
- The airline goals to tap into the growing marketplace for luxury leisure travel and provides reasonably priced luxury to leisure travelers with its specialized A319 aircraft featuring lie-flat seats.
- Beond incorporates low-cost elements into its technique to make luxury travel reasonably priced, equivalent to operating a single type fleet and reducing weight onboard. Tickets are already available on the market on the launch routes.
All business class leisure airline Beond has today revealed the primary routes for its launch later this yr. Flying an Airbus A319 with just 44 seats, all lie-flat, the carrier is targeting two European connections and one within the Middle East for its first flights. Launching in November 2023, the European routes will likely be from Zurich and Munich to Male within the Maldives.
In fact, the A319 cannot fly from either Munich or Zurich to the Maldives without stopping. As such, Riyadh will function a refueling point for the flight. A route map shared by the airline indicates that future connections can be made to Delhi, Mumbai, Paris, Vienna and even points within the Far East. Destinations equivalent to Osaka and Seoul would use Hanoi in Vietnam as a refueling stop.
Image: Beond
With such a robust deal with the Maldives, you can be forgiven for pondering that Beond was a Maldivian carrier, but it surely’s not. Slightly, that is the reinvented ‘Arabesque,’ the UAE startup that has been floating around within the aviation space for a few years now. Its mission is to supply reasonably priced luxury to leisure travelers in search of something a bit higher from their flight, operating only the A320 family of aircraft, a minimum of for the foreseeable future.
Luxury leisure is a growth market
Chatting with media at a roundtable today, CEO of Beond, Tero Taskila, noted that the segment the airline is targeting is believed to be a fast-growing market. He commented,
“We’ve all been witnessing a big take up of premium travel. All of the airlines in Europe are reporting that the present business and firstclass cabins are filled by people who find themselves actually traveling for leisure. reasonably than the corporates. Luxury leisure travel is the fastest-growing market segment. We’re tapping into that one with a really specialized aircraft.”
Photo: Beond
The aircraft in query is a single A319 to start out with. It has just 44 seats, all in a correct lie-flat business configuration. Taskila revealed today that the seats will likely be developed with Italian designer Optimares, and can include lavish touches equivalent to Italian leather construction, but additionally with carbon fiber elements to scale back the burden onboard.
Photo: Beond
Photo: Beond
The chief team was unable to fill in all the small print concerning the onboard service today but indicated that they’re taking a less conventional route with the inflight entertainment (IFE). Without saying an excessive amount of, the team noted that it wouldn’t be the same old underseat boxes, miles of wiring and hefty seatback screens. Chief strategy officer Max Niolv explained why:
“The in-seat video and cables and electronics add some 25kg per passenger, per seat. In order that’s why we’re taking up some very progressive solutions from a world-leading IT and entertainment manufacturer. I cannot disclose the name at this point, but it surely is clearly something very, very special.”
Making luxury travel reasonably priced?
A key point that was reiterated during today’s press call was that this airline was all about making luxurious flying reasonably priced. As such, it’s incorporating some low-cost elements into its strategy, equivalent to operating a single type fleet, and reducing weight on board wherever possible.
Photo: Beond
In fact, affordability is a matter of opinion. Beond is pricing its segments to the Maldives at $2,000 from Europe and $1,000 from the Middle East. That’s competitive against other options, which range from $3,500 return with Qatar in business as much as $6,000 plus with Etihad (from Munich, mid-November). The largest profit for Beond will likely be the dearth of competition on the routes, with no airlines offering nonstop business class services from any of the three launch cities identified today.
Tickets are already on the market on the launch routes, and the airline will likely be offering three tiers of fares. In fact, everyone will get a luxury lie-flat seat and the identical exemplary catering and IFE, however the pricier fares begin to unlock other advantages, each within the sky and on the bottom. The best fare tier, which Beond calls ‘Opulence,’ comes with a limo service to and from the airport, and the firm is eyeing adding luggage pick up in the long run too.
Photo: Beond
Although Beond will launch with just one aircraft, it expects to have its second, an Airbus A321ceo, in place before the tip of the summer season. The A321 can have 68 lie flat seats, and will likely be joined by more A321s and A319s as time goes on. By the tip of next yr, the airline is targeting a fleet of 8 – 10 aircraft and a route map that spans 12 – 14 worldwide destinations.
Will you give luxury leisure a go and fly Beond to the Maldives? Tell us your thoughts within the comments.