The Kolkata airport got its first glance at the world’s largest cargo plane, which is also the biggest Airbus Beluga series aircraft, an official said on Wednesday.
The plane, Beluga XL, is the upgraded and bigger version of Beluga ST.
The overall length of the Beluga XL aircraft is 207 ft, its height is 62 ft and its wing span is 197 ft and 10 inches, according to the Airbus website.
Taking off from Bahrain International Airport, the aircraft with three pilots and one engineer on board landed here at 10.43 pm on Tuesday. It was received with a water salute, the spokesperson said.
“For the first time, Kolkata’s NSCBI Airport welcomed the Airbus Beluga XL, the largest in its series, carrying essential aircraft components. The flight stopped in Kolkata for crew rest, FDTL and refuelling, as it’s the only airport in Eastern India equipped to handle this aircraft,” the airport posted on X.
The Beluga XL, carrying critical components for the Airbus A321, departed at 5:19 PM on Wednesday, and headed towards Tianjin Binhai International Airport in China, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson in Kolkata said.
The flight has arrived at Kolkata for crew rest, crew flight duty time limitations (FDTL) and fuel stop as Kolkata is the only suitable airport in eastern India to accommodate this type of aircraft.
In a noteworthy update, the Beluga XL is expected to return to Kolkata on October 13 for crew rest and refueling, completing its round trip between Kolkata and Tianjin, the spokesperson said.
Earlier, the NSCBI airport in Kolkata had accommodated its ST series aircraft but it was for the first time on Tuesday night that it accommodated the XL series aircraft, the spokesperson said in a statement.
“The BelugaXL performed its maiden flight in 2018, and received the type certification in November 2019 from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) airworthiness authority. This paved the way for the first BelugaXL’s service entry in January 2020,” the Airbus website said.
The aircraft originated its flight from Toulouse (LFBO/TLS) Airbus factory, and is transporting some equipment and parts to another unit based in Tianjin (ZBTJ), China, the spokesperson said.
The Beluga XL (Airbus A330-743L) is one of the large transport aircraft designed by Airbus to carry oversized cargo, primarily aircraft components such as wings and fuselages.
Both the Beluga Aircrafts ST and XL are widebody airliners and have been used to transport outsize cargo, helicopters and aircraft parts.
Mach One Aviation, engaged to arrange airport permissions, clearances from Indian ministry and statutory authorities on behalf of the Airbus Transport International, said that this first the trip of ABB XL, out of Europe and operator is planning many more flights in the coming future.
It has also been informed by the Director of Mach One Aviation that the Airbus team and all the crew members of ABB XL were very happy after landing at Kolkata airport as the outstanding support has been provided by the AAI Kolkata and all local agencies, the AAI spokesperson said.
