38 | Flight International | 11-17 June 2019 flightglobal.com
PARIS
Special report
T
hen there were six. Airbus’s
programme to develop a new high-
capacity transport, the BelugaXL, to
support its logistics and production
operation, was originally intended to con-
struct a fleet of five aircraft to replace, one for
one, its A300-600STs.
But the airframer has opted to roll a sixth
example off the line, to reinforce its capabili-
ties following the ramp-up of A350 assembly
and the pressing need to raise A320neo family
output in response to demand.
“The decision followed an update, end of
2018, of an assessment that was carried out
ahead of programme launch,” says Airbus,
adding that the BelugaXL fleet is an “integral
part” of its industrial system and a “key ena-
bler” of its programme ramp-up. Airbus is
aiming to deliver 880 aircraft this year and
hike single-aisle production to 63 aircraft per
month by 2021, rates that will place a heavy
reliance on the transporter network.
“By expanding the [BelugaXL] programme
we protect future growth over the next 30
years and mitigate against industrial risks,”
Airbus says. BelugaXL programme head Ber-
trand George says these risks include not
only further increases in output but the pos-
sibility of technical problems grounding part
of the fleet.
The expansion reflects the situation when
the A300-600ST, the original Beluga, was de-
veloped. Four initial aircraft were certified
by French authorities, one a year, from October
1995 to June 1998. But a fifth was subsequently
certified, nearly three years later, in January- Logistics division Airbus Transport In-
ternational (ATI) operates the fleet. “I am sure
we would not have coped without the fifth air-
craft,” says head of ATI Philippe Sabo.
The A300-600ST operates under a restrict-
ed type certificate from the European Union
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which al-
lows aircraft that do not comply with all air-
worthiness requirements to be approved for
operation through mitigating measures and
limitations that ensure safety levels are main-
tained. While the BelugaXL – formally known
as the A330-700L – is a specialised aircraft
with a narrow production run, Airbus says
there are “no regulatory restrictions” limiting
the fleet to five, and it is free to add a sixth.
Airbus started flight-testing of the second
aircraft on 15 April, flying the twinjet from
Toulouse on a sortie lasting just over 5h
30min that took it over the Bay of Biscay,
operating at cruise altitudes above 30,000ft.
This aircraft, MSN1853, is set to be the first of
the BelugaXL fleet to enter service.
THIRD AIRFRAME
The airframer intends to begin BelugaXL op-
erations during the second half of this year,
initially with two of the type. It says a third
airframe is currently undergoing conversion
in Toulouse. Assembly and integration work
began at the end of 2018 and will continue
until the fourth quarter of this year.
ATI will take the third aircraft in 2020,
which will increase its overall fleet – includ-
ing the five A300-600STs – temporarily to
eight, before the A300-600STs start to be
phased out in 2021.
The aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent
700 engines, was developed primarily from the
A330-200 freighter and heavily modified – not
just with the cavernous main-deck fuselage
and visor loading door, but also a lowered
cockpit, larger vertical fin and secondary fins
capping the horizontal stabiliser. Like the
A330, the BelugaXL features composite struc-
tures including the fin and stabilisers, ventral
strakes, leading edge and flight-control surfac-
es, winglets, belly fairing, nacelles and radome.
But its primary characteristic is its size. At
63.1m (207ft) the aircraft is some 12% longer
than the A300-600ST and has a 51t payload. It
features a 16m lower-deck aft compartment
able to carry containers, pallets or bulk cargo.
Airbus first flew the BelugaXL on 19 July
last year, the aircraft lifting off from runway
32L at Toulouse for an initial 4h 11min maiden
sortie. It performed east-west circuits along the
line of the Pyrenees mountain range, south of
Toulouse, maintaining 8,000-12,000ft for much
of the flight, with the landing gear raised, be-
fore climbing to 32,000ft and operating at
cruise altitude over the Mediterranean Sea.
The flight “went very, very well,” chief test
pilot Christophe Cal stated at the time.DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Heavily modified A330-200’s primary characteristic is size: 12% longer than predecessor
Florent Montet/master films/AirbusBelugaXL
fleet grows
Airbus will produce a sixth example of its giant A330-700L
high-capacity transport aircraft, as means of safeguarding
logistics operation supporting A350 and A320neo lines