Review: Beond Airlines Business Class Airbus A319 (MXP-DWC-MLE)

During a recent trip to Europe, I decided to travel back home the long way, by first flying to the Maldives (and then directly turning around there, as one does). 😉 Why? Well, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to fly Beond Airlines, the all-business class airline startup that flies between the Maldives and destinations in Europe and the Middle East.

Personally I find Beond’s business model to be bizarre, and I question the long term viability of the airline. That being said, I have to admit that the actual flight was pretty awesome. The crew was super friendly, the food was excellent, and there were only eight other people on the flight, so it really felt like being on a private jet.

However, there are two major downsides to the experience, as I see it. For one, Beond doesn’t offer Wi-Fi, which is quite frustrating for a premium airline. The entertainment isn’t great either Furthermore, the refueling stop in Dubai is a pain, as it minimizes the ability to get rest. Anyway, let’s get into the review…

How I booked my Beond Airlines business class ticket

Beond Airlines doesn’t currently have any partnerships, so the only way to fly the airline is to pay cash for your ticket. While in Europe during a trip in July, I knew that Beond Airlines was about to launch flights to Milan, and fares were pretty attractive.

So I managed to book a one-way business class ticket from Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) to Male Velana Airport (MLE) for $1,242. Specifically, I booked the following flight:

7/06 B481 Milan to Male departing 11:10PM arriving 1:15PM (+1 day)

While the entire journey was blocked at 10hr5min, Beond has a refueling stop at Dubai World Central Airport (DWC) on this route. The way it’s scheduled, the plane is supposed to be on the ground there from 7AM until 8:35AM, and that roughly splits the journey in half (with the first sector being a bit longer than the second sector).

For what it’s worth, I booked the cheapest fare bundle offered by Beond, known as “Delight.” This doesn’t include lounge access or chauffeur service, but I didn’t value either of those for my itinerary — I was flying into Milan Malpensa Airport anyway, and I knew that Beond just used a Priority Pass lounge at the airport.

While looking at the seat map for my flight, I couldn’t help but wonder if the flight would actually operate, given how empty it looked. I booked just days before departure, and only four seats showed as taken on the seat map.

Beond Airlines business class check-in, lounge, & boarding

Beond Airlines struggles with operational reliability. On the plus side, my flight did operate. However, it was delayed a bit, and when I arrived at the airport, I saw that an 80-minute delay had been posted.

I proceeded to the Beond check-in counter, which was staffed with three agents. That’s a lot of people to check-in so few passengers!

I was quickly issued a boarding pass for the flight, and then headed through security and immigration, which was fairly efficient. I then visited the Sala Montale Lounge, which I’ve reviewed before.

My Beond flight was departing from gate B55, just a short walk from the lounge. The Beond jet arrived at the gate at around 11:30PM. Best I could tell, there were zero passengers on the inbound flight, so the turnaround was efficient. The crew was onboard pretty quickly, and then the plane was serviced for departure.

Boarding ended up starting at 12:15AM. As you’d expect, a major advantage of flying on an all-business class airline is that the boarding process is a dream. As nice as it is to fly an Emirates A380, it’s also nice to board a jet with only four other couples.

Beond Airlines A319 business class cabin & seats

Beond Airlines currently has a single jet, which is an Airbus A319 with the registration code 8Q-FBA. This is a 21-year-old jet that initially flew for EasyJet, but you wouldn’t know it based on looking at the interiors. Beond’s A319 is configured with just 44 business class seats, spread across 11 rows, in a 2-2 configuration.

The cabin simply looks gorgeous. Seats are designed by Optimares, and these are different than the cabins you’ll find in business class on virtually any airline nowadays (they are similar to cabins on the Four Seasons Private Jet, though).

In the very back of the plane, you’ll see a row of standard economy seats, which are for the crew, but otherwise, you’ll just find business class seats in the cabin.

With the exception of row one and row five, all Beond business class seats are the same. The seats are 20″ wide and have 50″ of pitch. The way the airline saves space with this configuration is by essentially placing the ottoman to the side of the seat in front. This leaves quite a small space for your feet when in bed mode (more on that in a bit).

Then in row one and row five, you’ll find the carrier’s ottoman seats, which are no doubt the best seats on the plane. Rather than only having a small ottoman to the side of the seat, you instead have a larger ottoman that gives you lots more space. I’d highly recommend choosing row five over row one, since row one has quite a bit of light and galley noise.

While assigning these seats costs an extra $100 per passenger in advance, at check-in they assigned me seat 5F, the ottoman window seat on the right side. So I was happy to be in one of these seats.

Aviation geeks will notice the double door plugs at the overwing exit on this A319. This isn’t standard for the A319, but rather it’s because the aircraft used to fly for EasyJet, and due to EasyJet’s dense configuration, a second set of exits was required.

Besides the legroom, the ottoman seats and non-ottoman seats are basically identical, so let’s go over the details. The seats are in a beautiful cream color, and I love the seat stitching, which has a unique pattern.

On the center console between seats, you’ll find many of the seat’s features.

For one, you’ll find the seat controls, which have two pre-set options, or you can customize specific parts of the seat.

Beond doesn’t have personal televisions installed, but instead you’re given tablets to use onboard. There are little tablet holders that extend from the center console, so that it almost feels like there’s built-in inflight entertainment.

The tray table also extends from the center console, and is a solid table that’s easy to use.

Each seat also has an AC power outlet, plus a USB-C outlet, for easy charging.

While the seats are beautiful, both the overhead consoles (which had individual air nozzles) and overhead bins clearly hadn’t been updated since the previous owner, and felt a bit outdated.

Beond Airlines business class amenities

There were quite a few amenities waiting at my seat upon boarding…

There was a pillow and blanket at each seat. The blanket was soft and cozy, and reminded me of the one offered in Qatar Airways business class. I also liked the pillow, and since there were dozens of empty seats, I could grab a couple of extra pillows for added comfort.

Beond offers its passengers an amenity kit, which is sort of basic. The kit is oval shaped, so almost looks like a case for headphones, or something. The kit contained eyeshades, earplugs, a dental kit, pillow mist, face mist, hand sanitizer, and body lotion. Not that it’s a big deal, but for a luxury, leisure airline, I’m surprised by the lack of a partnership with a major brand for these kits.

There were also a pair of slippers, which is an amenity I very much appreciate, since it makes it easy to visit the lavatory without putting on shoes.

There were also a pair of pretty high quality headphones, plus the entertainment tablet, which could be used after takeoff.

A moment after settling in, pre-departure drinks were served, with the choice of orange juice or apple juice. I was surprised that alcohol wasn’t offered, but I guess alcohol can’t be served on the ground at Male Airport, so the airline extends that to other destinations as well. Fortunately there’s a full bar after takeoff. Warm towels were also distributed.

Next up, the menu and wine list were distributed for the entire journey. On this flight, dinner would be served on the first sector, and then breakfast would be served on the second sector.

Beond Airlines business class entertainment

The entertainment situation on Beond Airlines is disappointing, plain and simple. Beond doesn’t offer Wi-Fi. I suspect this is a cost saving measure, or because the airline wanted to get the aircraft into service as soon as possible. Nowadays Wi-Fi has become standard on most airlines, so it’s disappointing to not even get this on a premium airline like Beond.

Entertainment is instead offered on tablets, which were distributed to each passenger. This isn’t necessarily the easiest to use system out there. The tablet doesn’t actually have a downloaded selection of movies, but rather it connects to the streaming service, and then you can browse the selection. If you prefer, you could instead use your own laptop or tablet to connect to the entertainment.

While the entertainment system indicated that there was a moving map feature, I didn’t actually find that to be usable. Anyway, there was a small selection of movies and TV shows, but it was by no means an impressive library. I’d recommend bringing your own entertainment.

I also have to note that it seems to me like this entertainment system isn’t ideal for the type of customers the airline is going after. Everyone else on my flight was on the older side, and seriously struggled with figuring out how to use the system. Like, connecting to Wi-Fi, pairing headphones, etc., is challenging for some, so the crew had to provide a lot of help with that.

Beond Airlines business class crew & service

Usually I talk about service at the end of my reviews, but in this case I wanted to do it toward the beginning, as it’s both something that interested me a lot, and it’s important context on the carrier’s business model.

Currently all of Beond’s crews are based in Dubai, which is where the airline has its technical stops. So I had hoped that eventually Beond would offer nonstop flights to the Maldives once it has longer range planes, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

On this flight, there was one crew on the 5hr50min flight from Milan to Dubai, then there was a crew change, and then a second crew took us on the 4hr20min flight to the Maldives. The number of crew members working this trip outnumbered passengers.

There were an astonishing five flight attendants on the first sector, and four flight attendants on the second sector, plus two pilots on each flight. So that’s a total of 13 crew members for nine passengers. And that doesn’t account for a similar number of crew members working the flight in the other direction, which appeared to be empty.

While I appreciate how it’s probably just much more practical to base crews in Dubai than Male (besides, the airline would probably have a hard time attracting talent to live in Male), the whole thing seems very inefficient.

Now, what pleasantly surprised me was the quality of the service. All crew members had extensive airline experience, almost entirely with full service airlines. The flight attendants were from all over the place, ranging from Myanmar, to Egypt, to Italy, to Spain. For example, several of the crew members I spoke with previously worked for Qatar Airways.

On balance, the service exceeded my expectations, and I found the crews to be lovely. Now, they weren’t necessarily uniformly the most polished (there was no addressing by name, and sometimes empty glasses could’ve been cleared faster), but they were still very good. Of course it’s important to emphasize that this flight was quite empty, so I’m curious what service would be like on a full flight.

Beond Airlines A319 departure from Milan

The beauty of flying on an all-business class airlines is how quick boarding is. Literally a minute after boarding started, the cabin manager announced that boarding was complete. I like how Beond crews start their announcements — “together we will go above and beyond to make your flight memorable.”

The other eight passengers were all seated in the first three rows of the aircraft, so I had row four and back all to myself — what a treat!

It still took some time to depart, given that the plane was being refueled. The main cabin door closed at 12:30AM, at which point the captain added his welcome aboard, on behalf of himself and the other captain (yeah, we had two captains).

He announced our flight time of 5hr50min to Dubai. He also apologized for the delay, explaining that the plane was late from Zurich the previous day, which is definitely the downside of an airline with just one plane.

Interestingly there was a pilot sitting in the cabin in uniform as well, but best I could tell, he never actually went to the cockpit. So it seems he wasn’t a relief pilot, but maybe he was commuting, or something?

At 12:50AM we finally began our pushback, at which point the crew performed the manual safety demonstration. We started our taxi at 12:55AM, and at 1:10AM we were cleared for takeoff. We had some pretty rough chop on our initial climb out, but the ride quickly smoothed out, at which point the seatbelt sign was turned off.

Beond Airlines business class dinner

On the 5hr50min overnight flight to Dubai, dinner was served shortly after takeoff. You can find the dinner menu below.

You can find the drink list below.

The crew was quick to serve the first round of drinks after takeoff, as this happened within 15 minutes of being airborne. I ordered a glass of champagne — Beond serves Piper Heidsieck Cuvee Brut, which is respectable. This was served with a ramekin of mixed nuts.

Around 25 minutes after takeoff, table settings were brought out, and a few minutes after that, the appetizer was served. There were two choices, and I selected the burrata with marinated avocado and oven dried tomatoes. Huge kudos to Beond for its presentation, as it’s about as good as it gets in business class.

Not only is each passenger brought their own bread basket and there are no trays used, but the actual plating is exceptional as well.

About 45 minutes after takeoff the main course was served. There were four main course choices, and I chose the slow cooked cod with risotto cake, grilled vegetables, and velouté. Once again, this was excellent, in terms of both taste and presentation. With the main course, I had a glass of the Italian red wine.

Last but not least, dessert was served around 60 minutes after takeoff. I ordered the almond and mascarpone slice, which was phenomenal. Yum, yum, yum.

All-in-all, I thought it was a very good meal, among the best I’ve had in business class. At the conclusion of the service, I was asked if I wanted my bed made, which I agreed to, as I was ready to get some sleep.

Beond Airlines A319 business class lavatories

Beond Airlines has two lavatories on its A319, with one being at the front of the cabin, and the other being in the rear of the cabin. I’ve gotta say, the lavatories were definitely a weak point of the experience.

Not only were they outdated and not luxurious, but they didn’t even have any elevated amenities. You’d think the airline could at least put some nice toiletries in the lavatory. On the plus side, at least the lavatories were well clean. Then again, that might’ve been because I was the only passenger using the rear lavatory.

Beond Airlines business class bed

Upon returning to my seat, I found the bed to be nicely made, and immediately got cozy. Look, I’ve gotta say, Beond definitely doesn’t have the most comfortable beds. The seat is fairly narrow, and on top of that, I had to bend my knees, as the seat also isn’t that long. However, I did like that that there wasn’t some small footwell I had to squeeze my feet into in these ottoman seats.

This is going to sound really random, but I also found it bizarre how bright the seat control lights were. If you’re reclined and facing in the direction of the center console, the lights are almost blindingly bright. I wish there were an option to dim these, or for them to only illuminate once touched.

While we’re speaking of the beds, on the second sector (from Dubai to Male) I decided to try one of the non-ottoman seats, which have a bit less room for your legs. This requires you to ideally sleep in a certain direction, and you have to bend your knees even more. I found the seat to be more comfortable than I was expecting, but it’s obviously not exactly industry leading in terms of spaciousness.

There are more comfortable and private business class seats out there. However, this airline is specifically intended for leisure travelers, and most people will be traveling as pairs. I wouldn’t be delighted if I were on a full flight in this configuration next to a stranger, but when you have no one around you for rows, it’s not so bad. 😉

Beond Airlines refueling stop in Dubai

I managed to get nearly four hours of sleep, at which point I noticed that the plane started descending. At around 8:30AM Dubai time, the captain was on the PA to announce that we’d be landing in about 25 minutes. At this point the crew distributed warm towels, and prepared the cabin for arrival.

Since row five is immediately over the wing, I decided to move to row eight for landing, so I’d have a better view on approach. I don’t often sit behind the wing, but I really loved the view from there. These were the most spectacular views I’ve ever had on approach to the UAE, bar none. It was also my first time flying to Dubai World Central.

As we approached Dubai over the Persian Gulf, we had a breathtaking view of The World (mostly abandoned), The Palm Jumeirah, and the Burj Al Arab.

We even then entered a bit of a holding pattern, to get even more of a view, including of The Palm Jebel Ali.

Then we finally touched down at Dubai World Central shortly after 9AM, around two hours behind schedule. I was excited to fly to Dubai World Central for the first time, as this will eventually become Emirates’ hub.

It took us around 10 minutes to taxi to our arrival stand, where we parked at 9:10AM. At this point there was a crew swap, the jet was refueled, the aircraft was catered, etc. Passengers can stay aboard during the entire process.

Dubai World Central is currently primarily a cargo hub and a parking lot for Emirates. However, there are also a limited number of scheduled and charter flights here, many of which seem to be from Russia.

At 9:55AM, 45 minutes after arriving at the stand, the refueling stop was completed. It was a nice touch how all the departing crew bid farewell to passengers, and the new crew introduced themselves to each passenger. The flight attendant working my section was a nice Egyptian guy who was actually working his first flight, and he did a phenomenal job.

At this point pre-departure drinks were served, with the choice of mango, cucumber spinach, or beetroot juice. What a fun selection! I chose the cucumber spinach juice, which was refreshing. Our “new” captain also added his welcome onboard, informing us of our flight time of 4hr20min, and telling us we should be departing shortly, upon the completion of some paperwork.

At 10:05AM we began our pushback, five minutes later we began our taxi, and then at 10:20AM we were cleared for takeoff.

Our climb out was smooth, and the seatbelt sign was turned off around five minutes after takeoff.

Beond Airlines business class breakfast

On the 4hr20min daytime flight to the Maldives, breakfast was served shortly after takeoff. You can find the breakfast menu below.

The service began with a round of drinks. Oddly, Beond doesn’t have espresso or cappuccino onboard, but instead only has brewed coffee, so I ordered that. I found this to be among the tastier airplane drip coffee out there, at least. It was also served with some cookies, plus some milk on the side.

As I sipped on my coffee, I enjoyed the views out the window. Eventually we started our crossing of the Arabian Sea, as we flew off the coast of Oman.

Breakfast was served at a leisurely pace, and my table was set around an hour after takeoff. There were two choices for the starter, and I selected the watermelon salad with za’atar halloumi. This dish was absolutely delightful, and probably the best (sort of) “salad” I’ve had on any flight.

Of the four main course options, I selected the North African mesfouf, with cinnamon spiced couscous, baked eggplant, and poached peaches. Once again, yum, yum, yum, this was exceptional.

Lastly, for dessert I was served the lemon chiboust, mixed berries, which was a light and refreshing finish to the meal.

It’s not often you see a proper three course meal for breakfast, so I’d say this might just be the best breakfast I’ve ever had on a plane.

Beond Airlines A319 arrival in Male

After breakfast, I spent a couple of hours just sort of enjoying the view out the window, snoozing, and generally raw-dogging (I think that’s what we call it nowadays?), given the lack of Wi-Fi, plus the lack of quality inflight entertainment. Before I knew it, we were approaching the Maldives.

I knew it would still be a very long day for me, so I asked for a cup of coffee to-go, so that I could enjoy it throughout the descent.

For the descent, I decided to move to seat 7A, so I could enjoy the view out the left side of the plane. We started our descent at 3:20PM, and as usual in the Maldives, the views were incredible.

We had a steep descent, and touched down in Male at 3:40PM, and then had a short taxi to our arrival stand.

I was excited to see the new terminal at Male Airport, as clearly quite a bit of progress has been made since my last visit, so hopefully it actually opens soon.

We ended up arriving at our stand at 3:45PM, 2.5 hours behind schedule. Fortunately I had a long layover in Male, so that delay only made my stay more pleasant. However, I’d be a lot less happy about the delay if I was actually visiting an island.

I was excited to deplane the jet, so I could see Beond’s gorgeous livery — what a beauty!

We were sent on a bus to immigration, and then I turned right around and flew Qatar Airways to Doha…

Bottom line

I’m really happy I had the chance to fly Beond Airlines, as this airline startup has intrigued me since before it launched.

The actual inflight experience exceeded my expectations, with delicious food, a swanky cabin, and friendly service. Furthermore, flying in a jet with so few seats is awesome, and it’s even cooler when the plane is almost empty.

Now, the Beond experience isn’t perfect. There’s no Wi-Fi, the entertainment tablets are kind of not ideal, and worst of all, the Dubai refueling stop limits the amount of rest you can get on a flight. Furthermore, there are major risks to flying on an airline with just one jet, because operational reliability is a challenge. This flight was 2.5 hours late, simply because the jet seems to frequently run late with the sequences it’s scheduled for, and it can be tough to “catch up.”

Personally, I still don’t think Beond’s current business model makes sense, never mind the massive growth aspirations the airline has, of operating dozens of planes. But still, I love the passenger experience, and with the above caveats out of the way (particularly around operational reliability), I’d recommend the airline if the price is right.

What’s your take on Beond Airlines business class?