Beond, a carrier billing itself as the first “all-premium airline” of its kind in the world, has grounded all flights until at least 30 September 2026.
“After a careful look at our network, we’ve decided to pause our scheduled flights between Europe and the Maldives for the summer months, with services resuming in October as we move into the winter season,” an email from Beond states.
While it says flights will resume on 1 October, a search on its website for services after that date returned no results. Whether that means the carrier just hasn’t opened ticketing for this period, a longer suspension or something worse, only time will tell – as the airline hasn’t divulged anything beyond its initial messaging.
But what’s clearer is that the current Middle East tensions would have affected its business, with rising jet fuel costs and airspace closures impacting carriers globally.
The Dubai-headquartered airline operates flights between the Maldives and Europe via the Middle East, using a small fleet of Airbus A321LR jets.
Aussie link?
When it launched in 2023, it stated an intention to establish a nonstop link between Australia and the Maldives. The carrier even included Perth in its route network map, saying it planned to start flights to Western Australia by 2024. That obviously didn’t pan out. But even with the longer-range A321neo LR and XLR aircraft it planned to acquire, nonstop links to Australia would’ve been a stretch.
Not that there isn’t a market for direct flights between Australia and the Maldives. Beating Beond (and others) to the punch, this week Luxury Escapes and Maldivian Airlines launched the first-ever nonstop flights between Australia and the Indian Ocean nation. The new weekly service – linking Melbourne and Malé – is only available to Luxury Escapes customers.
On Monday, the Australian Government also announced it had signed a new deal allowing Aussie and Maldivian carriers to fly passenger services to all international airports in Australia.
KARRYON UNPACKS: Premium leisure travel boomed post-pandemic, but this pause is another reminder that niche airlines remain vulnerable to fuel shocks, geopolitics and the brutal economics of long-haul aviation.
