Airbus to start building supersized jumbo

The giant aircraft are used to transport plane components between Airbus production sites in Europe

Airbus is to begin making five of its new airlifter giants known as the Beluga XL in early 2017.

The giant aircraft are used to transport plane components between Airbus production sites in Europe. They are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, and are based on the freighter version of the Airbus A330-300 jetliner, but will be 60m wide, 15m wider than their predecessor.

The increased size enables the XL to carry two A350 XWB wings in one trip, twice the capacity of the current Beluga. The five Beluga XL aircraft will provide an additional 30% transport capacity for Airbus’s industrial network.

Each aircraft will take around a year to build at a site close to the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France. The aircraft are expected to enter service in 2019.

Some of the Beluga XL’s components are provided by external suppliers, including a significantly enlarged upper fuselage, a modified forward fuselage section with a lowered nose and cockpit, and a large forward cargo door allowing roll-on, roll-off loading directly onto the main deck.

The Beluga XL is based on the A330-200F with a large reuse of existing components.The design concept is similar to the current Beluga, with the distinctive lowered cockpit, cargo bay structure, rear-end and tail being among the items that are newly developed.