(CTN News) – One of the most peculiar aircraft ever created, the Airbus Beluga, now has its own airline. The peculiar-looking, massive freight aircraft has operated for over 20 years and is a favorite with global planespotters. It mostly moves airplane components between the several Airbus production sites in Europe.
The initial fleet of Belugas, which a new model is now replacing, powers Airbus Beluga Transport, a stand-alone freight airline. “The market offers very few options for oversized items,” says Airbus Beluga Transport chief executive Benoît Lemonnier. In most cases, a payload must be partially disassembled to fit inside an aircraft; however, in the Beluga, it will fit perfectly.”
Airbus Beluga: The first group of aircraft
The first Beluga was originally called the Airbus Super Transporter. Airbus opted to rebrand the plane as the Beluga ST, keeping the old name in the acronym, after its moniker, based on its likeness to the white Arctic whale, became famous. It made its first flight in 1994 and entered service the following year. Four further aircraft were released until the end of the millennium.
As Lemonnier describes, the Beluga was designed to carry huge parts of Airbus aircraft from their production facilities in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Turkey to the final assembly lines in Toulouse and Hamburg. “The design is unique because it is based on an A300-600 that had its entire head chopped off and fitted with modified fuselage shells, a larger door, and specialized flight gear.”
Prior to the Beluga, Airbus had a fleet of Super Guppies, altered versions of Boeing Stratocruiser passenger aircraft from the 1950s that NASA used to transport spacecraft components. Now, we’re back at square one with the Beluga XL, an upgraded and roomier version of the original Beluga.
The Airbus A350 is the company’s newest long-haul aircraft, competing with the Boeing 787 and 777; the Beluga XL, being longer and larger than the ST, can transport both wings of the A350 instead of just one.
As an additional point, Lemonnier mentions that the A330 is the basis upon which the XL is built. The internal Airbus airline will shortly get the newest XL, the seventh XL produced since 2018. On the internal Airbus network, the Beluga XL may replace the Beluga ST, freeing up the STs for other services.
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