Luxury airlines now serve everyone 2023

Luxury airlines are challenging legacy airlines.

These new players are seeking innovative methods to make commercial flying less tedious, inspired by Delta, United, and American airlines’ 25% to 75% premium cabin expansions.

Maldives-based BeOnd will launch nonstop flights from Malé to Dubai, Delhi, and other Middle East and Asian cities in the autumn.

By 2023, the carrier will serve seven cities.

The premise: Every seat on the plane will lie flat, and travelers may have their bags delivered directly from home to their hotel without going through the airport.

BeOnd offers fast immigration and private terminals in select destinations.

Starting at $1,500 one-way. iPad Pros and wireless headphones will replace back-of-the-seat displays in two-row cabins.

After receiving its first plane, an Airbus A321 narrow-body airplane with 68 seats instead of 220, reservations will start this summer.

Bloomberg reports that BeOnd CEO Tero Taskila wants to add Australia and Europe in the first year.

Taskila said BeOnd is not for ultra-high-net-worth individuals

“We’re looking at people who haven’t been able to find space in first class on other airlines, or cannot afford it because they are a family of four,” he added.

BermudAir uses a leased Embraer E175 with 30 business-class seats to link Bermuda’s pink-sand coasts to Boston, Fort Lauderdale, and Westchester, New York.

BermudAir requested a foreign air carrier permit from the U.S. Department of Transportation with the goal of flying shortly.

Offshore banking, a key industry in Bermuda, is anticipated to fill seats.

Starlux Airlines, based in Taiwan, began operating its Taipei-Los Angeles route with an Airbus 350-900 in April and announced on Tuesday that it will increase its frequency from five to daily.

Even in economy class, the “luxury airline” offers more space and high-end furnishings.

Starlux’s model works.

Singapore Air and Qatar are similar in approach.

Henry Harteveldt, president and travel industry analyst at San Francisco-based Atmosphere Research Group, said BeOnd is betting on a losing approach.

He pointed to MGM Grand Air, Regent Air, and SilverJet, all of which failed to implement an all-premium-class concept.

Harteveldt claimed all-premium airlines have a dismal record.

He said specialty airlines will struggle to compete on well-traveled routes or to Bermuda, where warm weather is short-lived.

He added airline CEOs usually overestimate the market.

Luxury airlines are what?

BeOnd and Starlux are taking premium air travel door-to-door, unlike other airlines.

BeOnd flights include limousine service from your house to the airport (opt out) and curbside check-in with a concierge who takes your baggage and reviews your documentation on an iPad.

Starlux works with PS, LAX’s exclusive luxury terminal, which has its own customs and security checkpoint and costs a $900 yearly membership to access.

Includes chauffeur service.

The two airlines handle luxury aviation quite differently onboard.

Italian company Optimares makes BeOnd’s lie-back chairs for ultra-rich business planes.

Taskila called the design “timeless luxury” without “bling bling.”

Seat displays are replaced by iPad Pros and wireless headphones.

Each tablet has material in a customer’s chosen language, and parents can establish age-appropriate settings.

No one flies coach—everyone gets a lie-flat seat.

Starlux features four BMW Designworks-designed cabins from first class to economy.

Every cabin has supersized displays and six-way adjustable headrests in coach. Business and first class seats may be adjusted to “Zero G” mode to support your spine.

It’s better than most planes, but not revolutionary.

Pre-departure food ordering in all passenger classes shows that airlines can be hospitality providers.

La Compagnie, a small airline that flies daily from Newark, New Jersey, to Paris-Orly Airport with 76 lie-flat business-class seats, is an exception to premium airline failures.

Harteveldt noted that La Compagnie had fewer daily flights than Air France and United.

Since 2014, La Compagnie has offered twice-daily flights for $2,400 round-trip.

Seasonal tickets from Newark to Nice cost $2,350, while six weekly flights to Milan Malpensa Airport cost $2,300.

Christian Vernet, La Compagnie’s president, said the airline will acquire two more planes by 2026 to expand to Beijing, Johannesburg, or South America.

Vernet predicted a 75%–85% load factor for summer 2022.

Its business class fares are 20%–25% lower than incumbent airlines.

The audience distinguishes La Compagnie from Maldives-based BeOnd: Business travelers on overnight routes prefer the former, while leisure tourists on luxury vacations choose the latter.

That previously worked against BeOnd but may resonate now.

All-premium airlines like BeOnd and BermudAir must follow La Compagnie’s example and undercut their well-known competitors to prosper.

BeOnd’s beginning $3,000 round-trip pricing between Dubai and Malé would compete with Emirates’ autumn business class average of $2,880 to $3,309.

“It’s very difficult for these niche airlines to find enough customers to become profitable,” Harteveldt added.

He stated that they must overcome further obstacles to succeed.

Aviation requires $100 million in cash, outstanding customer service, and strong leadership to handle workforce shortages and complicated operations.

Taskila of BeOnd is unfazed.

Harteveldt considers all competition favorable for customers.

He predicted that one or more of these airlines would compel incumbent carriers to improve.