Here’s why an Airbus Beluga was circling overhead for over half an hour

An Airbus Beluga has been forced to divert to Liverpool Airport after developing a “technical problem.”

Beluga number 3 departed Hamburg at 10.10am heading for Airbus Broughton.

It was seen over Flintshire at around 11.30am, the transporter performed several circuits around Hawarden Airport at around 2000ft before diverting and landing safely at Liverpool Airport at 12.10pm.

An Airbus spokesman said: “Beluga 3, en route from Hamburg to Hawarden, developed a technical problem. The aircraft circled the aerodrome briefly before the pilot took the decision to divert to Liverpool John Lennon Airport as a precaution, where it landed safely.”

The current fleet of Beluga ST transporters which have been in service since 1994 look set to be retired by Airbus late next year when at least three of the upsized Beluga XL’s will be in service.

The larger BelugaXL has been designed to carry two A350 wings from Broughton to assembly plants in Europe, the current BelugaST can only transport one wing.