Premium cabins have become a major focus for airlines in recent years. Carriers are investing heavily in upgraded business-class products to attract travelers who value comfort and are willing to pay for it. Evidently, this segment delivers some of the strongest margins in the industry and has encouraged a few operators to explore all-business-class models on routes with consistently high-yield demand.
Examples include France-based La Compagnie, which offers all-business-class flights to New York, and Maldives-based leisure carrier beOnd, which connects several European destinations to Male via Dubai. Now, beOnd is preparing to enter the US market. The airline has partnered with New Pacific Airways to launch a new venture called beOnd America. Historically, all-business-class airlines have achieved only limited success, so whether this can gain traction in the US remains to be seen.
BeOnd Partners With New Pacific To Bring All-Business Travel to US Flyers
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The two airlines formally launched the beOnd America venture on November 12. The Maldives-based carrier said the United States will become a “key pillar” of its multi-air operator certificate strategy. Under the agreement, New Pacific will operate flights that are marketed under the beOnd brand, and the two airlines will work together on customer experience, scheduling, and network planning. In fact, the model relies on New Pacific because US law requires domestic flights to be operated by US carriers, and foreign airlines are limited to a 25% ownership stake.
Using New Pacific’s infrastructure gives beOnd a compliant path into the US market. For context, New Pacific is a small Anchorage-based carrier that operates a limited fleet of Boeing 757-200s and previously held full authority to fly scheduled passenger service. However, it ended its scheduled operations on April 5, 2024, and moved to charter-only flying, which placed its scheduled authority into dormancy. Under the Department of Transportation (DOT) rules, a carrier that does not operate scheduled flights for a year risks losing that authority unless it undergoes a fitness review and resumes flying.
Well, in New Pacific’s case, no revocation has been issued so far, and the operating certificate remains active because its parent company, Ravn Alaska, which operates under the same certificate, continued scheduled service until August 2025. Tero Taskila, CEO of beOnd, said, “New Pacific as a partner brings operational depth in the United States and strengthens our multi-jurisdictional structure. Together, we can introduce more travelers to a premium leisure experience that focuses on comfort, calm, and care from the moment the journey begins.”
Airbus Narrowbody Aircraft Are Expected To Anchor BeOnd America’s Operations
Credit: beOnd
beOnd America is expected to begin operations with eight aircraft carrying the airline’s branding and premium cabin product. Routes and launch dates have not been finalized, and the company has not confirmed which aircraft will be used. Currently, beOnd operates two Airbus narrowbodies, an A319 with 44 seats and an A321 with 68 seats, both equipped with lie-flat Optimares Maxima Plus seats. Besides, the carrier has already outlined plans to expand to a larger A320-family fleet, with future A320s expected to feature 58 lie-flat seats and the A321 maintaining its 68-seat layout.
These seats follow an open design aimed at leisure travelers, rather than the enclosed suites many airlines offer today. New Pacific’s aircraft, however, are Boeing 757s equipped with 78 recliner-style business seats for charter work. Those cabins do not match beOnd’s lie-flat standard, which makes a 757 deployment unlikely. Indeed, since the aircraft will be operated by New Pacific, adding A320-family aircraft to its operation would require type training for pilots and mechanics, updates to manuals and minimum equipment lists, and, for overwater routes such as Hawaii or parts of the Caribbean, ETOPS approvals.
Even so, this is more feasible than retrofitting the remaining three 757s, which would require significant investment and still fall short of creating a consistent product. Given beOnd’s Airbus strategy and the need for a consistent onboard product, it is probable that the eight aircraft planned for beOnd America will be Airbus narrowbodies sourced by beOnd and placed under New Pacific’s US certification.
Premium-Only Airlines Have A Difficult Track Record
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Furthermore, operating an all-business-class airline has historically been difficult, and it is worth noting that both beOnd and New Pacific enter this venture without a strong record of commercial success so far. Premium-only models often struggle because the number of routes that can sustain consistently high-yield demand is extremely limited. Even on major business corridors, carriers have faced high operating costs and weak load factors, which make long-term viability challenging.
For instance, back in 2004, Eos Airlines launched an all-business-class Boeing 757 service between New York JFK and London Stansted. It operated multiple daily frequencies but never reached the scale or revenue stability needed to cover its costs. Ultimately, after failing to achieve sustained profitability, the airline ceased operations in 2008. The underlying issue remains the same today: a premium-only cabin can look appealing on paper, but maintaining strong loads outside peak periods is difficult, especially for small operators with limited networks.
That being said, the concept is not entirely absent from the US market. La Compagnie continues to operate all business class flights from Newark to Paris Orly, Nice, and Milan Malpensa, targeting a very specific customer base that travels those routes regularly. The airline serves a narrow set of markets with steady premium demand that cannot be easily replicated elsewhere. Whether beOnd America can carve out a similar niche remains uncertain.
