Airbus Beluga XL super transport aircraft "white whale" first arrived in Vietnam

At 6:40 p.m. on November 19, a special Airbus aircraft landed at Noi Bai International Airport ( Hanoi ). This is one of five super transport aircraft of the French airline named Airbus Beluga XL (Photo: Vu Quang Anh).

This is the first time the Airbus Beluga XL has arrived in Vietnam, refueling for more than an hour before taking off. Previously, in May 2023, the older and smaller Airbus Beluga ST version also arrived at Da Nang International Airport.

The Airbus Beluga XL is an upgrade of the A330-200, intended to gradually replace the Beluga ST fleet (upgraded from the A300-600). Compared to its predecessor, the Beluga XL is 7m longer and 1m wider, providing 30% more cargo capacity (Photo: Tien Tuan).

The Beluga transport aircraft is named after a white whale that lives in the Arctic. The special features of this aircraft are quite easy to recognize: It has a giant body, the nose of the aircraft looks like the nose of a white whale, the "eyes" blink and the "mouth" smiles (Photo: Tien Tuan).

The “mouth” of the “giant white whale” is a black strip, which is also the cockpit with the crew inside.

The company's logo and the distinctive name and XL symbol of the improved version are printed large on both sides of the aircraft body (Photo: Tien Tuan).

On the top and two tail wings of the aircraft are also printed the symbol XL and the number 5 - the serial number of the aircraft in the first series of aircraft manufactured in 2018, starting operation from 2019 of Airbus (Photo: Tien Tuan).

The Beluga XL is capable of transporting 51 tons of cargo, 11 tons more than the Beluga ST, and has a range of 4,000km, further than the 3,000km of the Beluga ST (Photo: Tien Tuan).

The Beluga XL is 63.1m long and 19m high, with the nose of the plane being able to flip over to load cargo inside. The plane can carry both wings of an A350 aircraft or just the fuselage of an A350 aircraft inside the cargo hold, while the old version could only carry one wing or fuselage (Photo: Tien Tuan).

At 8:20 p.m. the same day, Beluga XL rolled onto the runway after refueling, waiting for takeoff (Photo: Tien Tuan).

At 8:25 p.m., Beluga XL took off from Noi Bai airport, continuing its journey to its next destination (Photo: Vu Quang Anh).

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/sieu-may-bay-van-tai-airbus-beluga-xl-ca-voi-trang-lan-dau-den-viet-nam-20241120075742704.htm