It was not until autumn 2024 that the Malé-based aviation company Beond started pure business class flights from Munich and Zurich to the Maldives. The start was extremely bumpy, as after just a few rounds the offer was greatly reduced. The carrier has now announced that it will be removing the Bavarian airport from the route network for the entire 2024 summer flight schedule period.

Just a few weeks ago, the business class carrier was saying that the cuts on European flights were simply due to seasonal fluctuations. It is now admitted that there will be no flights between Munich and Malé between March 10 and at least October 26, 2024. According to official information, this route will be reactivated on October 27, 2024. This will probably require that advance bookings can be secured on a sufficient scale.

Due to the fact that the range of the Airbus A319 aircraft used is not sufficient for Munich or Zurich-Malé, a refueling stop must be made at Dubai-World Central Airport for technical reasons. The original plan was to do this in Saudi Arabia, but it was decided to refuel in the United Arab Emirates before the first flight. Beond offers pure business class flights and is convinced that there is significant demand in the premium segment from Munich, Zurich and Milan-Malpensa, which should make it possible to fly economically successfully.

At least as far as Munich is concerned, this does not seem to be the case at the moment, because otherwise they would not have thinned out after just a few flights and completely removed the operation of the route for the 2024 summer flight schedule from the planning. When asked, a media representative admitted that “economic reasons” led to this decision. In other words: So far, we haven't been able to get enough passengers excited about the product and, due to a lack of demand, it's not worth it. That's why they're hiring, but they're planning - at least for now - to make their Munich comeback on October 27, 2024.