BeOnd CEO on launch of Saudi subsidiary, plans to quadruple the airline’s fleet 

Premium airline BeOnd is ramping up its expansion strategy. On December 10, 2025, the luxury carrier announced that it intends to launch a new subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, having applied for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).  

The move follows GACA’s decision to award a national charter carrier tender to BeOnd, which will allow the airline to provide customized domestic and international charter services throughout the Kingdom.  

BeOnd already operates at two Saudi airports, connecting Riyadh (RUH) to Male, the capital of the Maldives (MLE) and Red Sea International Airport (RSI), on the Kingdom’s western coast, to Milan-Malpensa (MXP). However, after obtaining a Saudi AOC, it can be expected that new routes will soon be launched, catering to the growing number of tourists traveling to the Middle Eastern Kingdom. 

A few days prior to this announcement, AeroTime spoke with BeOnd’s co-founder and CEO, Tero Taskila, who shared a more detailed outline of the airline’s current business standing and its growth strategy. 

During the conversation, Taskila confirmed BeOnd’s plans to quadruple its fleet in the next 12 months. The airline, which currently operates two aircraft (an Airbus A319 and an A321), is awaiting the arrival of six additional aircraft over the course of 2026. 

Taskila also revealed that BeOnd is already negotiating with lessors for up to 16 aircraft, half the amount it plans to add to the fleet until 2028. BeOnd’s business plan calling for a total of 56 aircraft by 2030. 

This vision received a significant endorsement in November 2025, with BeOnd successfully closing a $100 million Series C funding round from a mix of currently unnamed private and institutional investors. 

Saudi Arabia, which is currently in the process of a major investment and promotion drive aimed at luring more premium visitors to the country, offers BeOnd the opportunity to diversify beyond its original market, the Maldives. However, Taskila explained that this is only the beginning for the airline and confirmed that India may be the next country in which BeOnd applies for an AOC. 

The company is pursuing a multi-AOC strategy, with Taskila envisaging two to three aircraft assigned to each of the company’s AOCs. Although each of these airlines will have its own registration, BeOnd expects to leverage economies of scale by running most functions through a single team, all while diversifying market risk and seasonality. 

RELATED

Meet the young companies looking to redefine the business class seat

Expanding in new markets 

As part of this strategy, BeOnd had partnered with New Pacific Airlines, a US charter airline which ceased operations at the end of November 2025.

As per this agreement, BeOnd would have assigned at least two A321s to its US partner, which would have held the US AOC and commercialized this capacity in the US market under the BeOnd America brand, offering the same standards of service and passenger experience as the other BeOnd airlines elsewhere. 

The demise of New Pacific Airlines, however, has not made BeOnd give up on its American dream. Answering questions from journalists during a press conference held on December 10, 2025, Taskila stated that BeOnd is seeking to partner with another US operator to launch BeOnd America under the same franchise scheme that had been envisaged for New Pacific Airlines.

If and when it launches in the US, BeOnd will face competition from a new US-based premium operator called Magnifica Air. According to Taskila, at least six other projects exploring the premium airline segment, however, far from being concerned about this increased competition, Taskila said that he views the growing interest in this niche as validation of BeOnd’s model.  

While acknowledging that BeOnd is not yet profitable, Taskila told AeroTime that the airline expects to reach profitability by the end of 2026. Load factors are running north of 70% on European services, with approximately 30% of passengers taking advantage of Fifth Freedom rights which allow BeOnd to carry passengers between Munich (MUC) and Zurich (ZRH) and Dubai Al-Maktoum (DWC). 

Taskila also shared his optimism about the future outlook of the business. Despite BeOnd still experiencing strong seasonality, even traditionally off-peak months like November are seeing record booking numbers. Bookings for Q1 2026 are also up year-on-year.  

In any case, BeOnd is compensating for these seasonal fluctuations by focusing on charter operations. In this regard, Taskila mentioned that the company receives some 3,000 charter requests per year. 

However, rather than operating ad-hoc services, BeOnd prefers long-term contracts for corporate charters, particularly for events, which allows for better capacity planning. The airline has secured a contract with a tour operator to operate eight around-the-world luxury air cruises. 

As part of its next expansion step BeOnd is preparing the launch of several new destinations. Taskila named London, Paris, Dusseldorf (DUS), Geneva (GVA) and Rome Fiumicino (FCO) as possible new gateways in Europe for BeOnd and Hanoi (HAN), Bangkok (BKK), Mumbai (BOM), Delhi (DEL) and Seoul (ICN) in Asia.

RELATED

“Passengers are not mere numbers to us”: interview with Beond CEO Tero Taskila 

The post BeOnd CEO on launch of Saudi subsidiary, plans to quadruple the airline’s fleet  appeared first on AeroTime.

Go to Source