BeOnd (B4, Malé) has ferried its first aircraft to Malé ahead of scheduled flights commencing in November. The A319-100 registered as 8Q-FBA (msn 2119) flew in from Hyderabad International on October 9.
SundAir (SR, Berlin Brandenburg International) last operated the 19.83-year-old Airbus, which is now fitted with just 44 seats, with BeOnd targeting the premium leisure overwater bungalow cohort who want to avoid the transit stopover that most Malé bound flights entail. Twice-weekly roundtrips between Malé and Riyadh are timetabled to begin on November 16; twice-weekly roundtrips between Malé and Zurich will begin on November 17; and twice-weekly roundtrips between Malé and Munich will start on November 19.
At the apron ceremony this week marking 8Q-FBA's arrival, BeOnd CEO Tero Taskila said the next airports the carrier plans to fly to include Milan Malpensa and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, with services to Shanghai Pudong and Beijing planned after that. BeOnd also intends to supplement its single aircraft with an A321-200 over the IATA 2023/24 winter season. 8Q-FBA is at BeOnd on an operating lease with BBAM managing it on behalf of owners Horizon Aircraft Finance, the ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows.
