This was published 5 years ago
Airbus' Beluga XL nears service: 'The Flying Whale' takes off in Wales
Anyone looking to the skies in north Wales would have been greeted with an unusual sight.
The BelugaXL is testing at Airbus Broughton's wing assembly plant ahead of entering service later in the year.
Nicknamed "the Flying Whale", the plane will be used by Airbus to ferry aircraft and extra-large cargo.
Airbus created its supersize BelugaST by cutting the top section off one of its Airbus A300 widebody jet models and then adding a bubble-shaped fuselage to the airframe.
The A300 is no longer in production, something that helped lead to the even-bigger BelugaXL.
The BelugaXL performed its maiden flight in July 2018, and the planes have been testing over the last few months in Toulouse, France and Bremen, Germany.
It hasn't been all plain sailing, however, as one Beluga XL jet had to make a quick pitstop at Manchester Airport due to fog at Broughton's Hawarden Airport.
News of the successful tests will come as a relief for Airbus after its announcement that it is to mothball the A380 due to low sales.
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