Airbus BelugaXL: The Whale Plane



Airbus plans to charter out its whale-shaped Beluga transport planes, whose main job until now has been to ferry aircraft parts to its plants in Europe. The Airbus BelugaXL which entered service on January 9, 2020, is a large transport aircraft based on the Airbus A330 airliner. It has the largest cargo bay cross-section of all existing cargo aircraft worldwide, which provides 30% extra transport capacity. It incorporates newly-developed elements including a lowered cockpit, a highly-enlarged cargo bay structure, and modified rear and tail section. Its main freight door has 24 latches, and the plane is powered by twin Rolls-Royce turbofan engines. The BelugaXL is capable of flying non-stop a maximum distance of 2,300 miles and has a maximum payload capacity of 111,000 pounds. The maximum cruising speed is 452mph, with an approach speed of 157mph. The average price of Airbus BelugaXL is US $ 238.4 million. The giant transporters will lead to the creation of a commercial-cargo airline subsidiary beginning in 2023.