Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) has delivered the sixth and final A330-700ST BelugaXL freighter to its in-house operator Airbus Transport International (4Y, Toulouse Blagnac) which has thus completed its rollover from previous-generation A300-600STs.
F-WBXL (msn 1824) was built as the first of the six BelugaXLs. It operated the type's maiden flight in July 2018, but instead of entering revenue service upon certification, it continued to serve as a testbed for the programme. It was then brought back into maintenance in 2023 to undergo cabin refitting and refurbishment and will now begin operations on behalf of Airbus Transport International.
Airbus's in-house airline is primarily tasked with ferrying large aircraft parts, such as fuselage sections and wings, between its various production sites. Thanks to its larger capacity, the BelugaXL can better support the production ramp-up.
The last of five A300-600ST Belugas, F-GSTD (msn 776), ended operations on behalf of Air Transport International in mid-May 2024. However, the manufacturer has no plans to retire the previous-generation oversized cargo freighters. Three have already been moved to a newly set up commercial operator, Airbus Beluga Transport (BCO, Toulouse Blagnac), which proffers the Belugas to third parties. Airbus believes that given the scarcity of freighters capable of carrying oversized loads due to the reduced availability of An-124s and the destruction of the world's only An-225 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Beluga will remain attractive in this niche albeit lucrative market.
