Airbus reveals maiden flight date for Beluga XL – weather permitting of course.

This article is old - Published: Friday, Jul 13th, 2018

Airbus has revealed the date of when the new Beluga XL will perform its maiden flight.

The supersize transporter, freshly painted with a huge smiling face will take to the sky from its Toulouse base next Thursday, July 19.

In an update on Twitter the plane maker revealed the ate and said the flight will be broadcast live:

“We whale be very excited when it’s time for our gentle giant , the #BelugaXL, to fly the nest ! Join us on July 19th at 0830GMT for a LIVE #Periscope to witness this moment (weather permitting).”

The first of five next-generation oversize cargo airlifters, Beluga XL has been going through final preparations for its first flight this week with rejected takeoff testing– the situation in which it is decided to abort the takeoff of an airplane.

The @Airbus #BelugaXL perform 3 RTO this morning 😍😍😍 almost fully ready for her first flight on 19 july !#Toulouse #Airbus #Avgeeks #Avgeek #Whale @flightradar24 pic.twitter.com/EBI96F4ESn

— Clément Alloing (@CAlloing) July 13, 2018

The planes stunning livery includes a whale-style nose cone, sparkling blue eyes and a smiling mouth and was chose by Airbus employees.

“The six designs we proposed for consideration by employees respected our brand identity while running from the conventional to the unconventional, even adding a touch of fun,” explained Tim Orr, Airbus’ Head of Branding.

Whale hello there! 🐳 ✈️
Introducing the new #BelugaXL dressed up in its livery for the first time! pic.twitter.com/tf95rgFL1u

— Airbus (@Airbus) June 28, 2018

Starting in mid-2019, the BelugaXL will gradually replace the existing five-member Beluga ST fleet – which is used for carrying complete sections of Airbus aircraft from different production sites around Europe to the final assembly lines in Toulouse, France and Hamburg, Germany.

Preparation work has begun at Broughton which is needed to allow the Beluga XL to operate in and out of Hawarden Airport.

Work includes the resurfacing of the runway, new turn pads to both ends of the existing runway and the erection of three blast fences, one to each end of the runway and one adjacent to the existing Beluga apron.