Airbus has launched development of a new Beluga oversize transport aircraft to accommodate accelerated aircraft production including the A350 XWB, the company announced Monday. Airbus plans to build five new Belugas, all based on the A330 widebody. The five Belugas it now uses trace their design to Airbus’s first airliner, the A300.
Newly developed components include the Beluga’s lowered cockpit, cargo bay structure and rear-end and tail. The company expects to place the first new Beluga into service in 2019 and continue to operate the existing models until it retires the last of the five A300-based airplanes in 2025.
Airbus uses the Beluga to transport large aircraft components between company production sites in Europe. The company has already launched “the Fly 10000” project, conceived to double the current Beluga capacity by 2017.