Beond is a Maldivianairline headquartered in Dubai and based at Velana International Airport near the capital of the Maldives, Malé.[6] It was founded by Max Nilov and Tero Taskila in November 2022. The airline is a joint venture formed by the Emirati investment firm Arabesque, and the Maldivian hospitality company SIMDI Group.[7][8]
The only way to enter the Maldives from all countries is by air. At present, international airlines dominate operations at Velana International Airport, because the Maldives' flag carrier, Maldivian, has too small a fleet to cater to the growth at the airport and to compete with international airlines, along with connecting more worldwide destinations.[citation needed]
Max Nilov, Tero Taskila and Sascha Feuerherd decided to create a new airline by forming a joint venture of two companies, Arabesque and SIMDI Group.[7] Beond plans to connect the Maldives to multiple European and Asian countries with their cities, as well as to Australia.[9] It announced plans to operate to over 50 destinations in more than 25 countries with a fleet of over 30 aircraft in the next few years.[10]
On 10 August 2023, the first aircraft, an A319, joined the fleet, leased from BBAM Aircraft Leasing & Management.[11] In October 2023, it was reported that the airline will take the delivery of Airbus A321LR and A321XLR aircraft from 2024.[12] In its Airbus A321 fleet the airline will have a seat configuration of 68 lie-flat seats in a 2-2 format.[13]
Beond was originally slated to begin commercial operations by September 2023.[16] The actual start was in November 2023.[2]
In February 2024, the airline announced it would downgrade its services to Munich to a seasonal route, citing economic reasons.[17] At the same time, the new route to Bangkok originally announced for a start in July 2024 had also been cancelled.[18]
Destinations
[edit]Countries served by Beond as of June 2024[19][20]
As of May 2024, Beond serves the following scheduled destinations.[19] Additionally, Dubai-Al Maktoum started operating as a scheduled destination from May 2024.[19][20][21]
Aviation
