It’s a tough time to be an enormous aircraft these days, just ask the Boeing 747 that went out of production at the end of 2022. Now, after killing off its own super-sized passenger plane in 2021, Airbus has brought production of its bonkers looking Beluga cargo plane to an end this week.
Airbus ending production of the Beluga XL is a little different as it only planned to build six of the aircraft, while the A380 was killed off long before Airbus could reach the lofty delivery targets it dreamed of. But it’s still a landmark moment for big planes everywhere.
According to Simply Flying, the final BelugaXL rolled off the production line in Toulouse, France, earlier this week. The plane is the sixth model to be finished, with each solely created to transport cargo around the world.
To set this final Beluga XL apart from the five others built, those fun-loving Europeans have given Beluga number 6 an updated look. It still features the signature Airbus tailfin, but Airbus has given the behemoth a big cheeky grin up front and a winking eye graphic on one side. Cute.
With its gleaming paintwork finished, the sixth Beluga freighter will take to the skies for its first flight in the coming days and, Simply Flying reports, will enter service for Airbus later this year. As with the other Belugas XL aircraft in the fleet, the final plane will be used across the plane maker’s production facilities, where it will transport large components between its sites in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK.
Built around the Airbus A330, the Beluga XL is one of the largest cargo planes in the world. It was first unveiled back in November 2014 and the first aircraft took to the skies in July 2018.
Each of the six planes comprises a fuselage that’s more than 200 feet long and 29 feet wide. The cabin is almost 25 feet wide and the large cargo door at the front of the Beluga XL means it is capable of carrying some pretty hefty cargo, such as plane wings and fuselage sections. In total, the plane’s cargo hold measures an impressive 7,247 cubic ft.
To transport all that stuff around the world, the Beluga XL is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, which help give the plane a range of almost 2,500 miles.