Airbus Beluga XL (Airbus A330-743L).
The new Airbus Beluga XL is the successor to the Beluga ST (Super Transport) and can, for example, carry two instead of one wing of the Airbus A330. This makes the Beluga XL (official name: A330-743L) the largest transport aircraft in the world.
The ST was becoming too small for Airbus' products, and a larger transport aircraft was needed, especially in view of the A380. Although A380 production has since ceased, Airbus has continued the development of the XL because of the company's hefty order portfolio. Whereas the ST was already designed because other transport aircraft-including the famous Antonov 124-were too small, the XL had to become even larger to carry, for example, fuselage parts of the A380. That space can now be used for the additional wing of an A330, greatly reducing transport costs and time. The Beluga XL flies between the production sites in Toulouse, Hamburg, Saint-Nazaire, Albert, Madrid, Bremen, Chester and Ingolstadt.
This photo was taken on June 20, 2022 at the Airbus plant near Hamburg-Finkenwerder.
I am Jaap van den Berg and photography has become a great passion of mine since 2010. Since then I travel all over the world to take pictures of military aircrafts. But besides aircraft I also love to photograph other subjects like landscapes, architecture, flowers, animals, .. Read more…