The giant BelugaXL series transport aircraft were designed specifically for the transport of large-sized aircraft structural components between the production sites of the well-known aerospace company Airbus. And recently, the first of these aircraft, the height of which is comparable to the height of a three-story building, began to make regular flights, which is the first step towards completely replacing the existing fleet of transport aircraft of the previous generation BelugaSL, compared with which the new aircraft has a minimum 30 percent advantage over most the most important indicators.
We remind our readers that the first BelugaXL aircraft first flew in July 2018. But that flight was the first of 200 test flights and 700 hours of flight time required for the Type Certification certification procedure conducted by the European Aviation Safety Agency and completed in November 2019.
BelugaXL has a length of 63 meters and a width of 8 meters, it is a transport aircraft with the world’s largest volume and cross-section of the fuselage. This aircraft can lift 51 tons of payload into the air and move it to a distance of up to 4 thousand kilometers. The basis for the design of the BelugaXL aircraft is the design of the serial Airbus A330-200 Freighter cargo aircraft, it is powered by a pair of Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines.
As mentioned above, the first of six BelugaXL aircraft made its first commercial flight on January 9 of this year. And by 2025, all other aircraft will be put into operation, each of which will send “retired” one of its BelugaSL predecessors.
