20 Facts About Airbus Beluga

Airbus Beluga is unique in that although it is today a standalone multinational corporation, it was originally a consortium formed by major British, French, German, and Spanish aerospace companies.

The geographic location of Airbus Beluga manufacturing is not only influenced by cost and convenience; it is a matter of aviation history and national interests.

Over time, the Super Guppies grew increasingly unsatisfactory for Airbus Beluga's ferrying needs: their age meant that operating expenses were high and ever-increasing, and growing Airbus Beluga production required greater capacity than could be provided by the existing fleet.

Airbus Beluga Industries elected to invest $1 billion into the program, this sum included the aircraft themselves, the cargo loading system, and program management.

Over time, the Airbus Beluga has been used to carry a variety of special loads, including space station components, large and delicate artwork, industrial machinery, and intact helicopters.

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The qualities and improved capabilities of the Beluga resulted in the costs associated with transporting Airbus components dropping to only one-third of those achieved by the Super Guppy.

Cockpit of the Airbus Beluga is pressurized but the cargo deck is not, making it inaccessible during flight and unsuitable for cargoes that require a pressurized environment, such as live animals.

In January 1996, the Airbus Beluga was formally placed into dedicated service, ferrying components from various aerospace sites to the final assembly lines in Toulouse, France, and Hamburg, Germany.

Since entering service, the Airbus Beluga has been subject to several infrastructure upgrades.

In 2015, a dedicated Airbus Beluga loading station was opened at Hawarden Airport, preventing high winds from disrupting future operations.

In June 1997, a world record was set for the most voluminous payload to be carried by an aircraft when a Airbus Beluga was used to transport a chemical tank for a merchant vessel from Clermont-Ferrand to Le Havre, France.

In February 2003, a single Airbus Beluga performed the farthest distance charter flight ever, having flown for 25 hours to transport two complete NHI NH90 helicopters along with a single Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter from Marseille, France, to Melbourne, Australia, for the Avalon Airshow.

In 1999, a Airbus Beluga carried a large painting, Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix, which had hung in the Louvre in Paris since 1874.

In 2004, a Airbus Beluga was used to deliver relief supplies to the Indian Ocean region following widespread devastation of coastal areas by a major tsunami.

In 2005, the Airbus Beluga was employed to transport humanitarian aid and medical supplies from the United Kingdom and France to the Gulf Coast of the United States, in support of disaster-relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Airbus Beluga has seen recurrent use to transport bulky objects, including vehicles, for various different space programs.

In 2004, multiple Airbus Beluga flights were made to Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, to deliver Astrium-built satellites.

In 2009, a Airbus Beluga was used to convey the Tranquility module of the International Space Station from Turin to Kennedy Space Center, United States.

On 25 January 2022, Airbus announced a service offering outsize cargo transportation using its BelugaST fleet.

Airbus Beluga Transport saw additional demand after sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 affected Russian-operated Antonov An-124 services.