At a time when jumbo passenger airliners such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 are on their way out, the Beluga XL — the first of five — will be one of the biggest beasts in the skies. You ...

A BelugaXL (Airbus A330-700L) – with whale-themed paint job – has completed its first test flight. The transport aircraft will be used to carry Airbus airplane parts.

Airbus received its final BelugaXL freighter in July 2023, used mostly to transport airplane parts. The jet replaced the old Beluga "Super Transporter" as Airbus' airliner production rates increased.

Built around the Airbus A330, the Beluga XL is one of the largest cargo planes in the world. It was first unveiled back in November 2014 and the first aircraft took to the skies in July 2018.

Airbus also uses a fleet of barges and trucks to move components around Europe. The BelugaXL will take over for the current generation A300-600ST Beluga that has been in service for two decades.

It's based on the A330-200 airliner, which became known as the "Beluga" because of its resemblance to the white Arctic whale. The airplanes carry parts for all of Airbus' planes from manufacturing ...

It's finally here. One of the aviation world's most hotly anticipated planes, the Airbus Beluga XL, has entered full-time servince, having made its first operational flight on Jan. 9.

The Airbus Beluga XL, a massive super-transporter cargo plane that closely resembles a whale, is now in full-time service. The plane had its first operational flight on Jan. 9.

Airbus said the move to rent out spare capacity on its existing Beluga ST and new Beluga XL transporters would lead to the creation of a commercial-cargo airline subsidiary from 2023.

At a time when jumbo passenger airliners such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 are on their way out, the Beluga XL — the first of five — will be one of the biggest beasts in the skies.

A BelugaXL (Airbus A330-700L) – with whale-themed paint job – has completed its first test flight. The transport aircraft will be used to carry Airbus airplane parts.

Modified A330 The Beluga XL is the successor to the Beluga, or Airbus A300-600ST, which has been in operation since 1995.