The latest cargo aircraft designed to transport large airbus aircraft components has begun to work. The three-deck airliner Belugaxl will replace the existing fleet of cargo aircraft serving the production of Airbus with a 30 percent increase in performance.
For the first time, Belugaxl got into the air in July 2018, performing the first of 200 test flights. After spending more than 700 hours in the air, in November 2019, the aircraft received type certification from the European Aviation Security Agency.
With a length of 63 m, and a width of 8 m, the plane became a record holder in the length of the cross section among all existing cargo aircraft in the world. The carrying capacity of the “air whale” is 51 tons of the beneficial cargo, which it is able to transport 4000 km.
Belugaxl is based on a cargo Airbus a330-200. As engines, a pair of Rolls Royce Trent 700 is used as engines. In total, the construction of six aircraft is currently planned. The operation of new trucks will take place along with the previous model – Belugasl, until the outdated specimens are disabled in 2025.
Source — Arbus