Premium leisure airline beOnd is ready to take off its training wheels. After two years of operations, slowly expanding to six current markets served, the company is ready for global growth. It will establish operations in the United States and Saudi Arabia in 2026, more than doubling its current fleet.
We are “victims of our own success.” Our ability to attract premium tourists to the Maldives—and the size of the contribution that segment makes to the Maldivian economy—has been noticed. Now, places in the U.S., the Caribbean, and the Middle East are asking whether beOnd would be willing to set up operations to connect their luxury destinations as well.
– Tero Taskila, CEO
Betting Big on Premium
CEO Tero Taskila believes strongly the surge in premium demand is a structural shift in the global travel market. He notes that the growth began in 2019, and quickly bounced back as air travel resumed, growing faster than economy demand. Moreover, he does not see it as an ephemeral shift. “Throughout the world, with any airline on their premium cabins, it is the leisure travel which is filling those cabins and giving giving a better yield. That growth might decelerate in the future, but it happens in in the pockets on a global scale, rather than globally all at the same time. The multi-AOC strategy allows us to de-risk the operations, because now we have a position of multiple AOCs with the same product, where we can shift the capacity around as we see fit based on the market developments.”
Indeed, the market today appears hotter than ever. Taskila shares that “requests from potential partners and governments have enabled us to accelerate our global expansion.”
Adding Internet
When beOnd launched in 2023 Taskila suggested that its passengers “want to escape that hustle and bustle and being connected all the time” in justifying a lack of inflight internet service on board. Faced with the realities of the competitive landscape, however, that position changed.
Going forward the aircraft will carry a connectivity solution on board. The provider has been selected and an announcement is anticipated in Q1 2026. Inflight entertainment will remain a tablet-based solution, but the company is “evaluating the content providers to match each market.”
Many Airlines, One Brand
Key to the growth is a multi-AOC strategy. This approach works in several markets, including LATAM‘s collection of national carriers across South America. Ryanair and easyJet operate similarly in Europe, with multiple AOCs, though Ryanair also paints some of the planes differently.
beOnd will now accelerate its efforts on that front, with three markets planned in the coming years.
Charters in the Kingdom
The company secured permission from Saudi authorities to establish a charter operation in the country. It will secure local investors to pursue that operation, with a target of 20 aircraft operating in the Kingdom by 2030.
That seems like a lot of capacity for premium charter operations. But with a goal of one million annual international leisure passengers by the end of the decade it might not even be enough. Given the limited number of seats it flies in each aircraft beOnd needs to operate roughly 50 daily flights to reach that target.
It will start with six new destinations from Red Sea International (it already serves Milan as a fifth freedom flight from Malé) in 2026, though it is unclear if those will be charter or scheduled operations.
He also shared that two planes would be based in the US market to start, “focused on the transcontinental [market], with an exciting opportunity in Hawaii as well.” Those A320s will fly with 56 seats each.
Sleep time in the The Optimares Maxima Plus seat, as configured on Beond’s A319 (Image via Beond)
An all-premium transcon play is not new, but most efforts to date have run as charters with smaller jets, and with minimal success. It always comes with the baggage of limited frequencies; only two aircraft won’t solve that challenge.
With mention of both transcon and Hawaii service a base on the west coast seems slightly more likely; expect an announcement early in 2026 with more details.
International service may follow, Taskila shared, but that will depend on the market authorities held by the partner.
India, Eventually
The company also sees significant potential to operate with an AOC in India. That is expected to launch in the back half of 2027. As with Saudi Arabia, beOnd appears to be securing its own AOC with a local company rather than partnering with an existing operator. Taskila noted the rapid growth in India presents challenges and “we are quite sober in our in our understanding that it will take a time to go through the AOC process in India.”
Supply Chain Confidence
While airlines globally lament supply chain challenges, beOnd believes its next few years are well covered. The carrier will acquire a mix of new and “pre-loved” aircraft, with 32 specific frames identified through the end of 2028.
Aircraft deliveries in 2026 to fuel the Saudi and US operations are expected from late Q2, with the bulk in Q3 and a couple stragglers in Q4.
Taskila also confirmed that the company’s contract with Optimares for the seats has delivery guarantees and beOnd “don’t have any doubts” that delivery will happen on time.
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Seth Miller has over a decade of experience covering the airline industry. With a strong focus on passenger experience, Seth also has deep knowledge of inflight connectivity and loyalty programs. He is widely respected as an unbiased commentator on the aviation industry.
He is frequently consulted on innovations in passenger experience by airlines and technology providers.
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