beOnd Airlines is an all-business-class airline launched in late 2023 with the goal of offering a unique premium leisure experience. But does it live up to expectations? In this review, I will take you through my business class flight from Male to Milan, sharing the highs and lows of flying with beOnd Airlines. How does this all-business class carrier compare to the mainstream airlines’ business class?
Update (July 2026): beOnd Is Still Flying — but Its Network Is Shifting to the Red Sea
beOnd is very much still operating, and Malé is still the point of the airline. What has changed is how you reach it from Europe. The airline has opened sales for direct services between Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast and London, Milan, Munich, Paris and Zurich, starting this winter and subject to government approvals, and schedule reporting for the 2026/27 northern winter has most European services routing via Red Sea International rather than Dubai. beOnd’s published destinations now cover Malé, London, Paris, Zurich, Munich, Milan, Dubai and Riyadh. For the review below that means the cabin, the service and the dining are unchanged — but the Dubai refuelling stop I describe is being replaced on European routings by a stop on the Red Sea, so check the routing on the specific flight you are booking.
📍 Beond Airlines Overview
- Airline Type: All-business class premium leisure airline
- Key Routes: Male (Maldives) to Milan, Zurich, Munich, Riyadh, Dubai
- Aircraft: Custom-configured Airbus A319 (44 lie-flat seats)
- Best For: Luxury travelers seeking a private-jet-like experience to the Maldives
beOnd at a Glance
| My rating | 4.5 / 5 — the Maldives’ boutique all-business-class experiment, and it mostly delivers; full verdict below |
| The concept | An all-business-class airline flying to Malé — every seat lie-flat in a 2-2 cabin, boutique service throughout, no economy at all |
| The route | I flew Malé to Milan with a technical stop in Dubai. beOnd currently links Malé with London, Paris, Zurich, Munich, Milan, Dubai and Riyadh, with Red Sea services from those European cities opening this winter (see the update above) |
| Best for | Maldives-bound travelers from beOnd’s gateway cities who want the lie-flat without a mega-hub connection |
Why Trust This Article?
The Maldives is a country I keep coming back to, and I know it from more angles than most writers: resort stays across its atolls, 6 liveaboard trips as a Rescue Diver with 1,500+ logged dives, and the practical side — flights, transfers, seaplanes, connectivity — tested on my own trips rather than researched from a desk. Seeing the country from the water as well as the overwater villa changes what advice is worth giving: I know which questions actually matter before you book and which “essential tips” are copied from resort brochures. Everything in this article comes from my own travels, with my own photos, and I update it when things change. More on how I travel and review on my author page.
How to Navigate Male Airport Seamlessly?
Male Velana International Airport is notorious for being very busy, especially when handling multiple long-haul flights in quick succession. Thankfully, beOnd Airlines’ business class ticket grants you access to priority check-in and fast-track services. The fast-track access offered by beOnd probably saved me 60 or 90 minutes of queueing. There were long queues everywhere. To enter the airport check-in terminal, at security, and also at passport control. So, getting fast-track access is very valuable. With the fast track, I queued for about 20 minutes in total.
Tip: If you don’t have access to Business class fast track, make sure you arrive super early as the queues to enter the checkin terminal are long and you don’t want to miss your flight.
I checked in at the beOnd counter with absolutely no waiting time. It took me less than 3 minutes. The ground team at beOnd was helpful and polite. The check-in process went smoothly, my luggage was tagged quickly, and I received my boarding pass without issues.
Boarding the plane was a breeze as there was no line at all. It was such a relief not having to wait, and it made the whole process quick and stress-free.
Luxurious Lounge Access at Male Airport
beOnd Airlines offers different flight fare families. My package included access to the Business Class lounge, but not all do, so check when you book your flight.
The Leeli Lounge is the only lounge in the Male Airport International Terminal. It provides a peaceful retreat from the terminal’s hustle and bustle and offers a decent selection of snacks and drinks. It’s a relatively quiet place, making it a good spot to relax before your flight. I particularly enjoyed the delicious chili con carne. While the lounge doesn’t have showers or sleeping facilities, there are plenty of plush sofas with charging points.
The Bliss package is about 200 USD more expensive than the Delight package. The main difference is that it gives you access to the Male Airport business-class Leeli Lounge at Male Velana International Airport. The Opulence package includes an additional premium transfer. In the Maldives, the premium transfer is not necessary as taxis are easy to get outside the airport and very cheap. A trip to anywhere in Male or Hulhumale costs about 6 USD.
Tip: On trips starting in the Maldives, it is not worth upgrading to the bliss package for 200 USD because you can buy a day pass directly at the maldives lounge for about 40 USD per person.
Review of beOnd Unique All-Business Class Airbus A319 Cabin
beOnd Airlines operates an Airbus A319 as part of their fleet . The plane has been completely refitted to an all-business class configuration, featuring just 44 seats arranged in a 2-2 layout. Walking into this cabin is a striking experience. The leather seats in ivory white, accented by orange and bronze tones, immediately give off a sense of luxury and exclusivity.
While not the most cutting-edge, the seats convert into fully flat beds, providing comfort for the overnight journey. I found the seats plush and spacious enough for a leisure flight, though taller passengers might feel cramped when lying fully flat. I had seat 5A by the emergency exit, which had an extra ottoman, making the seat longer. Those seats are available for an extra 100 USD, which is worth it if you are tall, but it was still not sufficiently long enough for me to lie flat. However, the beOnd airline seats are wider than most business class seats I have experienced. This allows you to sleep very comfortably on the side.
The cabin feels very open and airy, but the drawback is that the seats don’t offer much privacy. As a solo traveler, the absence of privacy dividers could be a downside, but the flight wasn’t full, and I didn’t have anyone next to me.
Review of the beOnd Boarding Process and Onboard Service
Boarding the flight was super easy. There were about 30 passengers so there was no queuing at the get or to get into the plane. There is something refreshing about skipping the long lines and crowds you’d typically encounter on a larger aircraft.
The cabin crew onboard beOnd Airlines comes from various parts of the world, with backgrounds in airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways. They were professional.
Upon boarding, they set the town straight by offering us fresh fruit juices. Between the green detox and the blueberry juice, I didn’t know what to choose. It is a nice upgrade on the more typical orange juice or champagne served by mainstream airlines. My only complaint is that after takeoff, it took them almost 50 minutes to bring us our first drink. Meal services were attentive and drinks available all through the flight.
Dining Onboard: A Culinary Experience Above Expectations
beOnd Airlines truly excels when it comes to its in-flight dining. The meal service was well above average for business class, both in terms of quality and presentation. Shortly after takeoff, I was presented with an elegant three-course dinner, which was more akin to dining in a fine restaurant than on an aircraft. With a choice of 3 starters and 4 main courses, it was easy to find something I liked. They even offered Maldivian lobster as one of the main course options!
The first meal was a lunch served between the Maldives and Dubai. My starter was tuna carpaccio, followed by beautifully cooked slow-cooked wagyu beef with Parmentier potatoes and charred vine tomatoes. For dessert, I enjoyed the selection of cheese, which was the perfect end to a satisfying meal.
Dinner was equally impressive, featuring Salmon and slow-cooked beef brisket. I indulged in Arabic coffee chocolate cake, and that was the only part of the meal I didn’t like. The cake was too sweet and dry.
Drinks are pretty standard for a business-class airline, with a selection of Champagne, wine, beers, and cocktails available.
In-Flight Entertainment: a different offering
Instead of built-in screens, passengers are given iPads loaded with a small selection of movies, TV shows, and music. While the Beats headphones provided excellent sound quality, the film selection was limited. There were about 40 movies to choose from but few new releases. My biggest concern was the lack of WIFI internet during the flight. Internet has become pretty standard on many airlines and that is something beOnd might need to offer to attract business passengers who want to stay connected during the flight. On the plus side, the short touch-down in Dubai lets you get your messages with 4G in the middle of the flight if you have a roaming service on your phone.
The Dubai Refueling Stop: A Necessary Inconvenience
One of the unique quirks of flying beOnd is the refueling stop in Dubai. While this is necessary due to the Airbus A319’s range limitations, it disrupts sleep and adds an extra hour to the journey. We remained onboard during the stop.
beOnd and its quick touchdown are still preferable for most European destinations without direct flights to the Maldives. I was once on a flight from Male to Italy with a 6-hour stopover in Dubai in the middle of the night. It really disturbed my sleep pattern. The beOnd Airline quick touchdown is much more painless, but the break in the flight can be frustrating for those hoping to get a solid rest.
The service during the refueling stop was attentive, with the new crew introducing themselves and offering refreshments. Still, as beOnd expands its fleet, I look forward to the introduction of longer-range jets that will eliminate this stop altogether.
An easy arrival into Milan
We arrived in Milan a few minutes before schedule. Flying a small plane with only 30 passengers makes the arrival a lot more relaxed. We were out of the plane within minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions: Flying Beond to the Maldives
What is a Beond airline review typically like?
If you read any recent Beond airline review or Beond flight review, passengers consistently praise the boutique feel. As an all business class airline, the experience feels much more intimate than standard carriers. Most Beond reviews highlight the exceptional dining and the exclusivity of the Beond business class cabin.
Are Beond flights the best way to fly to the Maldives?
For travelers specifically looking for business class flights to Maldives, it is certainly one of the most premium options. This business class only airline eliminates economy cabins entirely, meaning your Beond flight boards faster and feels significantly less crowded than a standard wide-body jet.
What are the Beond seats like?
The Beond seats are designed for comfort and luxury, arranged in a spacious 2-2 configuration. While the Beond airlines business class seats convert into fully flat beds, taller passengers might want to book the bulkhead or emergency exit rows for extra legroom. The Beond cabin crew ensures the space is immaculate and provides personalized, attentive service throughout the flight.
Is beOnd worth it compared to Emirates or Qatar?
It depends on your origin: from beOnd’s gateway cities the direct boutique flight is a genuine treat — my 4.5/5 reflects that. From everywhere else, the big hubs win on frequency and connections; my Emirates business class review covers the strongest of those alternatives, and the honest comparison is in both reviews.
Does beOnd still fly to the Maldives?
Yes. Malé remains the whole point of the airline, and its network covers London, Paris, Zurich, Munich, Milan, Dubai and Riyadh. The change to watch is the routing: from the 2026/27 winter, most European services are set to run via Red Sea International in Saudi Arabia rather than Dubai, so confirm the stop on your own booking.
Does Beond offer a lounge at Male airport?
Yes, depending on your fare class (like the Bliss package), you get access to the Beond lounge Male. It utilizes the primary business class lounge Male airport (the Leeli Lounge), which offers a quiet space to relax before your flight home.
In conclusion of my review of beOnd Airline business class flight to the Maldives
Flying with beOnd Airlines was an exciting experience. There were some undeniable highlights, particularly the luxurious cabin design, the fast boarding, the excellent food, and the attentive crew. I also really appreciated the peaceful atmosphere onboard since there were only 30 passengers. One area of improvement is offering Wi-Fi and having longer seats.
If you’re looking for a relaxing and intimate business class experience with fewer passengers and a more boutique feel, beOnd is definitely worth considering. The airline offers an experience as enjoyable as mainstream airlines’ business class and, in some aspects, even better.
Would I fly beOnd again? Absolutely, for a leisure trip to the Maldives. I hope they start adding more destinations in Europe and Asia. A flight to Bali would be a nice addition!
3 thoughts on “beOnd Airlines Business Class flight Review to the Maldives – Discovering the All-Business Class Airline”
Shockingly bad airline, unreliable every time, customer service non existent. Speaking with fellow passengers on all flights they shared the same experience. Delays for 6 hours, cancellations for over 24 hours, no updates, no communication, ECONOMY middle seat flights with other airlines, no compensation, cannot even make contact, appalling.
So, firstly the poor experience starts right at the airport where is a never ending line for checked luggages which we waited more than hour to get to the counter. Then we came, we checked our luggages, and our tickets got printed out with wrong seats. It wouldn’t be that big of a problem, if we would get seats in the same price. We paid for the extra leg room seats which were 100€ per person for a single flight. Their excuse was that they changed the aircraft for no reason. I don’t understand how hard it is to text us that sorry we changed an aircraft and we are not able to give you your seats and so on and so on, but no. They didn’t say anything. We wrote an email to them for the compensation we have right to because we weren’t able to get our seats we paid more for and they still didn’t respond us for 8 days now (now it’s 8th day and they still didn’t respond us to us). I am really interested that how it takes them this much time to inspect that we didn’t fly the seats we paid more for. I don’t understand why this airline is playing that they are some sort of the most luxurious airline in the world when this is the most poorest management airline could have. Other things also were in the airplane like for example the amenity kit they give you where you can find for example like toothbrush, sleep mask and so on, it was used. It’s REALLY disgusting. The testers in the kit were used and empty, the toothbrush was out of the package where it should be and it looked like it was used before. I mean this is the most disgusting thing you can get in an airplane. Also when we folded the seat to the full flat position, between the gaps of the seat was literally everything. Dust, some medicines, leftover food and other stuff. This is really disgusting to see. Literally the worst experience you can get when flying some “exclusive” airline which is worse than low-cost airlines.
In April we flew with Beond to Male. They first had us waiting at zurich airport due to technical problems. At 11.30pm they told us to come back next day afternoon. That flight the did leave, almost 24h later than planned.
We lost and paid our luxury resort for one full day, and obviously SEAPLANE ticket too.
I contacted beond and told them my issue and asked for refund. They answered that yes there will be refund but not how much.
Now, almost 3 month later, They are still “working on it”. I am writing to them almost weekly, always same answer.
Another guest we met in male had the same delay, 3 days before us.
It seems a standard for this airline, and service is lousy, no reply for 3 months.