BelugaXL transporter rolls out

The first structurally complete airframe for the new BelugaXL has rolled out from its assembly hangar in Toulouse.

Once operational, a fleet of these next-generation airlifters will be used to transport completed sections of Airbus aircraft among the company’s European production sites and to its final assembly lines in France, Germany and Spain.

This initial BelugaXL is expected to be flying by mid-2018.

The BelugaXL is one of the most voluminous aircraft in existence. With a bulging upper forward fuselage and enormous cargo area, the BelugaXL is hardly recognizable as the outsized airlifter version of the Airbus A330-200 jetliner from which it is derived. “We have the A330 as a foundation,” said Bertrand George, head of the BelugaXL programme, “but many changes have been successfully designed, introduced into the aircraft and tested. Transforming an existing product into a super transporter is not a simple task.”

The BelugaXL programme was launched in November 2014. At six metres longer, one metre wider and with a payload lifting capacity six tonnes greater than the BelugaST transporter version it is replacing, the BelugaXL will be able to transport both wings of an A350 XWB at once, instead of the single wing currently accommodated on the BelugaST. All told, five BelugaXLs are scheduled to enter service for Airbus’ airlift needs.

www.airbus.com/aircraft/freighter/beluga.html#BelugaXL

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