BeOnd is a new, all-premium airline hoping to shake up the luxury travel market.
ADVERTISEMENTOffering business class flights at a fraction of the cost, this airline says it’s creating a new niche in luxury travel.
Registered in the Maldives and headquartered in Dubai, BeOnd took its inaugural flight from Munich to Malé in November last year. Eight months on, it has just launched a new route from Malé to Milan, adding to its existing Dubai, Riyadh and Zurich routes.
Tero Taskila, the CEO of BeOnd, is an industry veteran with a career in aviation spanning 30 years in companies across the world. Taskila believed it was the right time to launch a boutique, all business-class airline after seeing the industry reach a crossroad.
“Now we are in a perfect moment in aviation history where the technology is meeting the demand, and we have an opportunity to create something niche for that particular segment and be very focused on that segment,” he says.
In September, BeOnd will launch its first Asia Pacific destination: Bangkok in Thailand. The route will open a gateway to a major market many airlines are racing to capture.
What’s it like to fly with BeOnd?
Opting for narrow-body Airbus A319s, BeOnd places only 44 seats in a plane that can carry up to 156 passengers if it were an all-economy offering.
The airline will soon expand its fleet to include the Airbus A321, which will have 68 business class seats, still roomy for a plane that can carry 220 passengers.
BeOnd’s lie-flat seats are designed by Optimares, with seat shells by Ferrari and fine leather fittings from Italy. A team of world-class chefs prepare curated on-board menus, inspired by flavours of the different destinations.
But beyond the fine dining and sleek interiors, Taskila says most of the positive feedback he has received has been about the crew.
“Our crew is our biggest loyalty tribe. People love our crew. I recently got the biggest compliment from a client, who said he was extremely impressed by a cabin crew, who knew so much and was very attentive, and who was on his first day on the job,” he says.
‘We don't need to be outrageously expensive’
Although BeOnd brands itself as a luxury airline, Taskila says he doesn’t mind it being seen as a ‘value for money’ carrier.
“We don't need to be outrageously expensive. But we need to be able to, at whatever price we are offering, exceed that value, so we are creating the value,” he says.
So, how much does it actually cost to fly on BeOnd?
At the time of writing, a return flight from Munich to Malé in October is selling for around US$2,800 or €2,600.
The same route with Lufthansa costs upwards of €4,500, with at least one stopover.
ADVERTISEMENTBeOnd features VR Apple headsets and Beats headphones
BeOnd has also opted to do away with the standard embedded screens for its in-flight entertainment system. Instead, the company has chosen to offer the latest Apple iPad Pro tablets and Beats by Dre wireless headsets.
“If it’s all about who has the biggest IFE screen, someone will always have one bigger than you, right? That’s easy to copy, but you can’t copy the experience,” Taskila says.
BeOnd has announced it will be the first airline to offer the Apple Vision Pro on its flights, allowing passengers to fully immerse themselves in inflight content such as movies and games.
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Facing the sustainability challenge
Launching a new luxury airline at a time when the industry is facing major scrutiny for carbon emissions may raise some eyebrows. But Taskila believes BeOnd can be a leader in sustainable air travel.
“We are committing to be the biggest, sustainable aviation fuel operator in the world,” he tells Euronews Travel.
“Obviously, we’re not the biggest airline, so volume-wise we’re not the biggest, but for the percentage of the fuel which is sustainable out of the total fuel we consume, we will be the frontrunners. We will be the fastest to implement that 100 per cent in the aviation industry.”
It’s a bold target when larger airlines are watering down their emissions reduction goals due to low supply and high prices of SAF, which currently falls far short of demand.
ADVERTISEMENTIn an effort to boost its green credentials, the airline has no single-use plastics across any of its products, and has also teamed up with CarbonClick, to allow customers to offset their carbon footprint.
How is BeOnd building a class of its own?
With no immediate plans to launch a loyalty programme or join a global airline alliance, BeOnd is happy to chart its own path in the luxury travel market.
But Taskila isn’t ruling out targeted partnerships with airlines that can help them reach more customers.
“Being different doesn't mean that we wouldn't be partners with some. So ultimately, the customers are creating a journey. We want to make it easier for them, so we are looking at interlining partners and co-chair partners to help them to come to our network,” he says.
ADVERTISEMENTHe hopes these collaborations will help BeOnd reach its goal of flying to 54 non-stop destinations with its fleet of 27 aircraft by 2028. The airline also plans to shuttle more than 405,000 passengers by then, which will fuel its targeted operational value of US$1.3 billion (€1.2 bn).
