After several delays, the aviation company Beyond Air, which markets itself as a “luxury airline”, intends to start the long-announced flights from Munich and Zurich to the Maldives from mid-November.

Operational implementation is to take place with an Airbus A321LR, which has 68 seats in business class. Passengers are promised particularly luxurious travel, but a closer look at what's on offer shows that they're not really making a big splash when it comes to seating, as they offer a 2-2 configuration on board the narrowbodies. In other respects, too, the seats do not offer any particular luxury, but are an “off-the-shelf” product. However, one does not fly with Airbus A321LR from the beginning, because initially an Airbus A44 with 319 seats is used. This is 19,7 years old and has the registration 8Q-FBA. This machine was previously used by Sundair and Easyjet, among others.

Depending on the fare class booked, up to 60 kilograms of luggage are included, but this is divided according to the piece concept. A maximum of 20 kilograms is included per suitcase. It is also noteworthy that lounge access and the advertised limousine service are not included in the cheapest fare classes. In the best case, more than 4.000 US dollars are due per direction.

The fact that the Airbus A321LR machine type does not have sufficient range to get from Munich or Zurich to Malé without a stopover may not be known to some people who fly infrequently. Because of this, Beyond Air has to make a stopover to refuel. Riyadh was chosen.

However, it is noteworthy that during the booking process from Zurich or Munich, this stopover is not mentioned at all. At first glance it seems like booking non-stop flights. But that is not the case, because these are so-called direct flights that have a technical stopover in Saudi Arabia. Beyond Air was unable to explain conclusively why the stopover was kept secret during the booking process.

In any case, flights between Malé and Zurich will begin on November 17, 2023. Flights to Switzerland should take place on Monday and Friday. The return flights are scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays. In both directions there will be a refueling stop in Riyadh.

A day later, Beyond Air starts the Riyadh flights. These are to be carried out in both directions on Thursdays and Saturdays. As of November 19, 2023, there will be additional flights on Wednesday and Sunday on the Munich route. Also on this route there is a technical stopover in Saudi Arabia.