The first-ever Airbus Beluga transport aircraft has left Broughton for the
last time. Beluga number one departed the Airbus factory in North Wales on April 27th,
on its way to Hamburg. It’s the second of the original fleet of five A300-600ST
transporters to be placed in storage, with Airbus updating its fleet to the modern Beluga XL.
Beluga number one, the first to grace the skies on behalf of Airbus Transport International,
has officially left the building. The aircraft, based on the A300 has been with Airbus since
October 1995 and is a ripe 26.6 years old. As Airbus introduces more of the modern
A330-based Beluga XL to its fleet, the original five are set to leave. The first to take
retirement was Beluga number two, registered as foxtrot-golf-sierra-tango-bravo, which last flew
on October 6th, 2020. The aircraft flew from Airbus’ Toulouse home to Bordeaux for storage.
Now, the first-ever Beluga has taken her last flight for Airbus. foxtrot-golf-sierra-tango-alpha
took off from Hawarden in Flintshire at just after 15:00 BST on April 27th. It was a short, one-hour
and 16 minute trip, directly east, to Hamburg. It landed at 17:19 local time. Airbus has its
own facilities in Hamburg to remove useful parts or otherwise do some decommissioning work with
the aircraft. Beluga number two also spent time in Hamburg before departing for storage in Bordeaux.
As such, we could see number one taking a final ferry flight to the storage location as well.
Up until now, Beluga number one had been fairly busy for Airbus. In the last 12 months,
she’d flown some 458 flights, with an average monthly utilization of 57.1 flight hours.
But with newer, bigger sisters joining the fleet, it’s time for number one to rest her wings.
To date, Airbus has taken delivery of two of the newer Beluga XL. These larger load-shifters
are based on the Airbus A330 and carry the designation A330-700L. The first arrived with
Airbus Transport International in December 2019, and a second joined the fleet in October 2020.
Interestingly, the two that are already flying for Airbus are XL2 and XL3.
XL1 is yet to enter service but is carrying the registration F-GXLG. AIB Family shows that the
aircraft has undertaken numerous test flights at Toulouse, the most recent of which was on April
9th. Perhaps it’s almost ready to enter service, and as such, Beluga number one was taken offline.
Also incoming is F-GXLJ, which we would like to assume will be XL4.
However, spotters are yet to see the complete plane emerging for flight tests, so it’s likely
to be some time before the fourth joins the fleet. The Beluga XL offers 30% more cargo capacity than
the original line and will be essential for moving large parts like wings from production facilities
to the final assembly lines for the planemaker. Airbus previously said it would seek ETOPS
approval for at least two of the transporters, allowing them to fly transatlantic.
Have you ever spotted Airbus’ giant transporters? Let us know in the comments!