All business class leisure airline BEOND has revealed the first routes for its launch later this year. Flying an Airbus A319 with just 44 seats, all lie-flat, the carrier is targeting two European connections and one in the Middle East for its first flights. Launching in November 2023, the European routes will be from Zurich and Munich to Male in the Maldives.
The A319 cannot fly from either Munich or Zurich to the Maldives without stopping. As such, Riyadh will serve as a refueling point for the flight. A route map shared by the airline indicates that future connections would be made to Delhi, Mumbai, Paris, Vienna and even points in the Far East. Destinations such as Osaka and Seoul would use Hanoi in Vietnam as a refueling stop.
Speaking to media , 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 significant take up of premium travel. All the airlines in Europe are reporting that the current business and first class cabins are filled by people who are actually traveling for leisure. rather than the corporates. Luxury leisure travel is the fastest-growing market segment. We are tapping into that one with a very specialized aircraft.”
