New premium leisure airline Beond unveils passenger experience concepts
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In November 2023, a brand new airline will take to the skies, and one with a very distinctive offer. Beond says it will be the “world’s first premium leisure airline”, with the aim of bringing travellers from Europe, Asia and the Middle East to the Maldvives. On October 11th, it showcased its first aircraft, an Airbus A319 seating 44 passengers in an all lay-flat configuration, at events in Dubai and Malé.
At the same time, Beond has made a series of announcements highlighting what passengers can expect once they fly with the airline. This includes partnering with Clip to offer a bespoke in-flight dining collection.
New dining collection from Clip
Clip founder Cindy Lam gave APEX Media a preview of the new collection at this year’s APEX/IFSA Global EXPO. Speaking at the event, Lam said that while some projects of this nature can take up to 18 months to develop, Beond’s new tableware was created in six months, with everything being custom made.
The collection consists of fine China with subtle golden watermark patterns. Every piece of the set was created to convey the idea of understated luxury. The fine China was created in association with William Edwards, while the place settings come from Chilewich.
In addition, the cutlery chosen further enhances the onboard experience. The cutlery was developed in partnership with Robert Welch, a heritage English manufacturer. Every element is polished and shaped for a comfortable hold, beauty, ease-of-use, and efficient to be carried onboard an aircraft.
According to Max Nilov, one of Beond’s founders, “Beond is dedicated to delivering exceptional premium-class travel experience to a new generation of global travellers who seek adventure, beauty and quality. Beond wanted only the very best tableware on board to complete the experience. Clip brought our vision to life, down to the finest details — and we believe our customers will agree.”
In addition to specially created tableware, Beond intends to underpin its premiun leisure positioning with a number of other passenger experience elements. This includes 180-degree lie-flat seats, lounge access and a private chaffeur service to the airport (depending on availability and fare).
Aircraft on show at the Dubai Air Show
Beond’s inaugural flights to the Maldives are scheduled for November 2023, with the Riyadh inaugural departing November 9, the Munich inaugural departing November 15, and the Zurich inaugural departing November 17.
The airline has also announced new routes from Dubai and Milan, beginning in late March 2024.
Beond will fly a fleet of Airbus A320-family aircraft, in a single aisle configuration of either 44 or 68 seats, depending on the aircraft type. The company says that its new aircraft will be on show at the Dubai Air Show next month, and that it is expecting further aircraft deliveries from Airbus in late 2023 and early 2024. The airline’s ambitious five year goal is to serve 60 destinations with 32 aircraft.