Airbus announced the entry to service of its BelugaXL transport aircraft, having made its first flight in mid-January. The manufacturer noted the new jet is the first of six planned BelugaXL aircraft, and will provide 30% extra transport capacity in support of Airbus' on-going expansion of commercial aircraft production.
Airbus plans to introduce five additional BelugaXL aircraft between 2020 and 2023.
The new transport jet is 63 meters long and 8 meters wide, and has the largest cargo bay cross-section of any existing cargo aircraft in the world. The BelugaXL can carry two Airbus A350 XWB wings (in contrast to the predecessor BelugaST model, which carries just one.)
The new aircraft has a maximum payload of 51 metric tons, and a range of 4,000 km (2200 nautical miles.)
The BelugaXL is based on an A330-200 Freighter, and is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. The aircraft's distinctive, lowered-cockpit design, cargo bay structure, and rear-end and tail were developed jointly with Airbus partners.
The new jet design was initiated in November 2014, meaning its entry into service marks "another successful achievement for the internal aircraft program that was awarded Type Certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in November 2019, following an intensive flight-test campaign that saw the BelugaXL complete more than 200 flight tests, clocking over 700 flight hours."
