You’ve probably already heard that 70% of startups fail within the first two years, as many hope to create the next “Uber” for some niche category, only to get thwarted by the unforgiving weight of business along the way. But what if you want to start your own airline? Nevertheless a luxury one with Poltrona Frau leather seats. How on earth would you do that?
Enter beOnd Airlines, the world’s first premium class leisure airline. Founded in 2022 by Tero Taskila and Max Nilov, beOnd was created in response to the growing interest in luxury travel, specifically the Maldives, a market that was dominated by international airlines. Headquartered in Dubai and based at Velana airport in the Maldives, beOnd now has plans to operate in over 50 destinations over the next few years, and currently boasts the highest rated food out of any airline operated today (on top of many other things).
Its current destinations are listed as The UAE (Dubai), Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), Switzerland (Zurich), Italy (Milan), Germany (Munich), and the Maldives, and the company’s CEO, Tero Taskila, is responsible for establishing beOnd as the designated luxury premium class carrier in the Maldives.
Investor, advisor, entrepreneur, coach, and athlete, one thing is for sure, Taskila’s only getting started.
Esquire: Can you share a pivotal moment that lead to your pursuit of the aviation industry, specifically premium class travel?
Tero Taskila: All of the founders of beOnd have experience working with other luxury airlines in the region – Etihad, Qatar, etc. – and we wanted to create something unique and of our own. We realised that there is no airline dedicated strictly for leisure travel, which is the fastest growing travel segment in the world. The technology we use has enabled our aircraft to fly longer distances while also being friendlier for the environment, so we really just combined the two. And when it comes to luxury travel, it’s all about the experience. People think that it’s all about the gold plated seatbelt or having the biggest TV screen, but it’s not about that. That might get you an Instagram post, but it’s not what people remember. What they remember is how the airline made you feel. So we use Poltrona Frau leather, which is the softest on the market. We use carbon fiber seats made by Ferrari, and we have the best food in the entire airline market. We want you to feel nice not just in Instagram photos, but in real life, which is the important thing.
Esquire: Creating an airline must have come with quite a few challenges. What were they and how did you push through them?
Taskila: We created this aircraft from scratch, so although we’ve all spent thirty years in the industry, of course we faced many new challenges. We had so much scrutiny from different safety agents and we needed to certify it since nobody had done anything like this before. Still, everybody was extremely supportive and it was clear that this was something people wanted to see.
Esquire: I know you spend a lot of time coaching sports, especially ice hockey. How does that skillset translate to your role as a CEO?
Taskila: Much like running a business, when coaching a sports team, you must know that everybody joins the team with their own specific set of skills. Sometimes, a person can be more gifted physically, and others can be more talented mentally. On the highest level, which is the NHL and where I used to coach, you find that athletes are very demanding. They demand direct feedback and brutal honesty all the time. And being a coach as well as a CEO, my role is to orchestrate a team to perform to the best of their abilities. As CEO, at the moment we have over 200 people at beOnd, by the end of the year we will have 300, and by the end of next year we’ll have 2,000. So my team is getting bigger and bigger, which is more challenging but also more interesting to manage.
Esquire: Do you have any daily rituals when you’re not working?
Taskila: In the mornings, without a thought, I immediately take a cold shower for 3 to 5 minutes. I play ice hockey to keep my cardiovascular health up, and then I try to go to the gym 6 times a week, even if I’m not motivated. It’s good to keep a schedule and to stay disciplined. The gym is my meditation for me. I spend 12 hours a day in the office, so in the gym I’m the least social person ever, and I just want to be alone with my music.
Esquire: What kind of music do you listen to in the gym?
Taskila: I change my music all the time, but lately it’s been a lot of rock ‘n’ roll, especially, KISS.
Esquire: Great answer.