Yesterday, (and during Farnborough), Airbus took its newest plane to the skies – the Airbus BelugaXL.
The Airbus BelugaXL in flight – Image, Airbus.
The first of five BelugaXL aircraft to fly has landed at Toulouse-Blagnac, after successfully completing its first flight lasting four hours and 11 minutes.
The original Airbus Beluga on the left (based on the A300-600) and the Airbus BelugaXL (base on the A330-200F) post flight, Image – Airbus,
With the first flight done and dusted, the Airbus BelugaXL now enters the next phase of testing to gain Type Certification.
The plane will conduct around 600 hours of flight test over 10 months, with an aimed entry into service in 2019.
Airbus plan to manufacture at total of five of the new BelugaXL aircraft, which will replace the original Beluga Super Transporters between 2019 and 2023.
The primary use of the type will be to fly large aircraft components – such as wings and fuselages – across the Airbus manufacturing network to the final assembly lines. This includes components for the Airbus A350XWB family and increasing the ramp-up of the A320 family.
For Airbus who rely on an air-based supply chain, it’s critical this testing is completed and successful to continue the way it makes planes.
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