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.
In the early days, Airbus used the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser-based Guppy transport planes.
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.
Airbus currently operates a fleet of five Belugas.
The Beluga and its rotund cargo compartment has hauling power.
This includes entire sections of fuselage.
Or the tailfins.
Boeing also uses a fleet of specialized transport planes to move large components around. They are all called the Being 747-400LCF Dreamlifter.
This month, Airbus introduced the next generation Beluga called the BelugaXL.
It's based on the Airbus A330-200F freighter.
Here it is under construction.
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.
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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