BeOnd, touch and go at Malpensa. Pricing and IFE, CEO speaks: news ahead for flights from Milan.
The first flight with passengers on board is scheduled for July 3, more than two months from now. But, on Tuesday 16 [...]
BeOnd
MXP
Maldives
The first flight with passengers on board is scheduled for July 3, in more than two months. But, Tuesday, April 16, the A319 of BeOnd, the Maldivian all-business that began operations last November with flights from Malé to Riyadh, Zurich, Munich and now Dubai, leapt over the Alps, from Zurich to Milan Malpensa, to show a preview to the press and tourism operators.
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The Flight Club could not miss the appointment, which was held with a tour of the beautiful interior Of the 44-seat cabin and the ability to photograph from a few feet The stylish livery with the large copper-colored BeOnd lettering on the dark gray background of the fuselage.
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The plane, which the night before had made a scheduled flight from Malé to Zurich., then returned (without passengers) to the Swiss hub and from there (again with passengers on board) to the Maldives. Sales manager for Europe, Lukas Hofmeister, was from the company, while CEO Tero Taskila was absent.
However, The Flight Club had a chance to speak with us ahead of the company's landing in the Italian market, which was preceded by a significant reduction in the basic round-trip fare.
A few weeks after opening reservations to Italian travelers, you have significantly lowered ticket prices across your entire network, including Milan from where you can now fly from 1,799 euros round trip. What was the reason for this decision?
"We are a young company and we are operating in a luxury leisure market that is virtually unexplored, airline-wise. So we are, in fact, learning from the market. Our good fortune is that because we are an agile structure, we can intervene quickly where it is appropriate. Certainly, at the fares we offer today, ours is an extremely competitive product for those who want to fly in style to the Maldives from Europe."
What do you expect from the Italian market?
"We expect a lot. Milan is only our third destination in Europe, the second if you count the fact that Munich has been suspended for the summer season and will resume in the fall. Italians are known for their good living, and aboard our planes they will not be disappointed."
What should Italian passengers expect on board your planes?
"Excellent on-board service, as are our food and wines. And the cabin is not only beautiful, but also very much made in Italy, if we think that the seats were assembled by Optimares of Latina, the leather that covers them is by Poltrona Frau, and the carbon fiber strut that supports the seats was made by Ferrari, perhaps the most famous and excellent made-in-Italy brand. In addition to this, many small touches, such as the bed that is prepared for the night by our crew for each passenger with a mattress, pillowcase and soft comforter."
How did you customize the flight experience in preparation for flights from Italy?
"In recent months we have received feedback that was not positive about the entertainment system, which we offer through IPad that the passenger finds in a seat pocket. It is an excellent device, as are Bing's cousins, but what was wrong was the content, which was too meager and very much geared toward our Arab clientele. So we recently updated and enriched the content, making it more suitable for a Western audience."
A few weeks ago you purchased a second aircraft, a larger 64-seat A321, also all-business. When will it enter service and will we see it in Italy?
"The plane has already arrived in Malé with the new interior, which is identical to that of the A319, but we are making final touches. In our intentions, it will enter service in June, with the start of the summer season proper. I don't know if it will also fly to Milan, where we currently plan to fly the A319. But certainly, having two airplanes with capacity will allow us to be more ready to respond to market demands, even with machine changes on the same destination depending on demand."
What are BeOnd's medium-term plans, speaking of fleet and destinations?
"Our plan between now and 2028, five years from the start of flights, is to have 32 airplanes and some 60 destinations spread across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and even Africa. Also joining the fleet will be A321LRs and then -XLRs, which will enable us to fly nonstop from the Maldives to many destinations, including those in Europe and the Far East."