Airbus BelugaXL :  Large transport aircraft of Airbus 

The “Airbus BelugaXL“  is a large transport aircraft based on the Airbus A330-200F. The aircraft was designed and built by Airbus to transport outsized cargo such as fuselage sections and wings between manufacturing plants across Europe and its final assembly plans in Toulouse and Hamburg. 

The company originally built five BelugaXL aircraft but as demand for the fleet’s services has grown, an additional sixth and final aircraft was added to the fleet in June 2024.

The Airbus BelugaXL (A330-743L) is a large transport aircraft based on the Airbus A330-200F, which Airbus built to replace the original Airbus BelugaST (Super Transporter) and transport very large aircraft components, such as wings. The aircraft made its first flight on 19 July 2018 and received its type certification on 13 November 2019. The BelugaXL entered service with Airbus Transport on 9 January 2020.

Because the Beluga ST’s cargo hold is 50% higher and 10% wider than regular cargo aircraft — like the Boeing 747-8F — it is generally used to transport voluminous items such as satellites, helicopters, aircraft engines, flight simulators, sailing boats and army vehicles.

The aircraft offers a total capacity of 50,500 kg (111,333 lb) payload and can carry outsized and other unusual cargoes on short and medium-length flights.    Saint-Nazaire Airport (SNR) in western France where the AIRBUS company has a manufacturing facility.