Airbus takes delivery of main cargo door for new Beluga XL transporter

The main cargo door for the new Airbus Beluga XL transport plane is on its way to the aircraft makers Toulouse factory where the oversized transporter is being assembled.

The cargo door was constructed by Stelia Aerospace at its site in Rochefort, is being transported to Toulouse by road and barge.

@STELIAAEROSPACE livre la porte-cargo du 1er BelugaXL d’@Airbus – 10m de long, 9m de large, 8m de haut et 3,1tonnes. https://t.co/brIIzgexzK pic.twitter.com/My8Yz215kK

— STELIA AEROSPACE (@STELIAAEROSPACE) September 19, 2017

The 10 m long, 9 m large and 8 m high – door has a total weight of 3.1 tonnes including its systems, and a surface of nearly 140 sq. meters, it is the largest aircraft door ever manufactured in Europe.

Bearing specific complex opening and closing systems, the door will enable the loading / unloading of the payload inside the BelugaXL.

Teams of three Stelia Aerospace sites, Rochefort, Saint- Nazaire and Toulouse have worked together on the design, manufacturing, assembly of the door.

Cédric Gautier, CEO of Stelia Aerospace, said:

“Stelia Aerospace teams and myself are very proud of this new delivery, on time, after 3 years of intense and close work between our different sites and our customer’s teams. Our teams have once again demonstrated their ability to deliver on time a complete “plug and play” section.”

The BelugaXL, the latest generation aircraft derived from the Airbus A330, is the successor of the current BelugaST which operate out of Hawarden Airport on a daily basis transporting wings to Europe.

The BelugaXL programme was launched in November 2014, in order to address Airbus’ transport capacity requirements due to production ramp-up.

Beluga XL maiden flight scheduled for next Summer