Avast! The Great White Whale of the Skies is About to Get Even Larger

Thanks to ever increasing production rates at Airbus assembly plants, the European aircraft manufacturer’s aptly named fleet of Beluga transport planes is due to grow — both in enormity and number.

These elusive white whales of the skies are obsessively hunted by plane spotters, but the fleet of Airbus Beluga transport planes are a bit easier to spy than Moby-Dick. The aircraft’s unique humped shape helps it stand well apart from all other planes as it ferries oversize parts to and from Airbus production facilities across Europe. The fleet of five converted A300-600ST complete as many as 60 flights a week, a number that grows each year as Airbus continues to smash previous production records.

According to a report from CNN, Airbus is responding to increased manufacturing demands with plans to add more Belugas to its fleet, and because the A300 is no longer in production, plans call for a much larger Beluga converted from newer A330 planes. The new transport planes will be capable of transporting up to two A-350 wings; the Belugas currently in service must make two trips to deliver a complete set of wings.

“The need for the new Beluga comes with the increase in production rates and to get extra capacity on top of this fleet of five aircrafts,” Stephane Gosselin, director of Airbus Transport International, told CNN.

Beginning in 2020, there will be at least one more Beluga in the skies. The new giant cargo jets will be larger and borne from an A330 rather than the A300, but the planes will keep the signature humped look that can turn even a layman into a plane spotter with near Captain Ahab levels of excitement.

[Photo: Airbus]