Airbus introduced a massive new cargo plane that looks like a whale and will play a key role in the company's future

Airbus needs to move large numbers of components to its assembly plants in France and Germany. This includes whole sections of planes.

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In the early days, Airbus used the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser-based Guppy transport planes.

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Since the mid-1990s, Airbus has used an aircraft called the Beluga. It's based on the company's A300-600 airliner and its official name is the A300-600ST Beluga.

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Airbus currently operates a fleet of five Belugas.

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The Beluga and its rotund cargo compartment has hauling power.

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This includes entire sections of fuselage.

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Or the tailfins.

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Boeing also uses a fleet of specialized transport planes to move large components around. They are all called the Being 747-400LCF Dreamlifter.

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This month, Airbus introduced the next generation Beluga called the BelugaXL.

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It's based on the Airbus A330-200F freighter.

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Here it is under construction.

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The BelugaXL is 20-feet longer and its cargo compartment is more than three feet wider than its predecessor. It can also carry as much as 110,000 lbs of cargo.

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The Airbus Beluga XL is expected to fly for the first time this summer and will enter service next year after a 10-month test program.

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