Airbus Transport International (4Y, Toulouse Blagnac), the in-house cargo unit of Airbus, has retired the last of its five A300-600ST Beluga transporters. F-GSTF (msn 796), the youngest of the fleet at 25.2 years of age, was ferried from Bordeaux Mérignac to Chester Hawarden on January 29, 2026. It is due to be placed on display at Airbus' Welsh site at the airport, just inside the Welsh border. Two other A300-600STs are parked at Bordeaux, and two at Toulouse Blagnac. The company has replaced the aircraft with six new-generation A330-700STs. The aircraft are used mainly for transporting oversized aircraft parts between Airbus' sites around Europe.
The last flight under the operator's 'BGA' code took place on January 17, 2025, and was operated by F-GSTB (msn 751) from Bordeaux Mérignac to Toulouse Blagnac. The other three Belugas are also in storage:
"We confirm that the decision has been taken to terminate the Airbus Beluga Transport business for outsized cargo missions. All flights operated by the BelugaST fleet are suspended as of now. The closure project has just started and it is too early to predict a completion date. One of our main priorities during this time is to support our employees during the social process," a spokesperson told ch-aviation.
The manufacturer did not communicate the reasons behind the operator's closure but, in a letter to customers, said it was due to "economic factors." Airbus said that the medium- and long-term future of the aircraft had not been decided yet. "To what extent ATI will be operating the BelugaSTs is subject to the respective ongoing planning," the manufacturer said.
Airbus Beluga Transport launched in mid-2022 to commercialise the unique capabilities of A300-600ST, converted nose-loaders formerly used by Airbus to carry large aircraft parts between its assembly sites. The carrier was certified in December 2023.
Airbus Transport International replaced the Belugas with larger A330-700ST BelugaXLs. It operates six units of the type, having taken the final one in mid-2024.
Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) has announced that it has begun operating commercial cargo services with its fleet of A300-600ST Belugas. By the end of 2023, the manufacturer will obtain a separate Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) for these operations.
Until now, the Belugas have operated almost exclusively for Airbus, transporting large aircraft parts such as fuselages and wings between the manufacturer's sites, only very occasionally transporting third-party cargo.
The manufacturer said that its first commercial Beluga flight took place in late December 2021, when F-GSTC (msn 765) delivered a Airbus Helicopters airframe from Toulouse Blagnac to Kobe (via Warsaw Chopin, Novosibirsk, and Seoul Incheon). In 2022, two Belugas will be earmarked exclusively for commercial cargo services, with the remaining three due to transition to commercial service in 2023. Until the new cargo unit obtains its own AOC, flights will continue to be operated by Airbus Transport International (4Y, Toulouse Blagnac), Airbus's in-house outsized cargo transportation subsidiary.
"Whereas the ATI structure is inherently focused around the European network of Airbus plants, the new airline, which we will create, will be flexible and agile to address the needs of external markets. Moreover, it will have a worldwide scope and we will be organised for that around the globe," said Phillippe Sabo, the head of ATI Air Oversize Transport.
The Belugas' entry into commercial service follows a decision to replace them with new-generation A330-700ST BelugaXLs. ATI has thus far inducted three of the new aircraft but is due to increase the fleet to six by 2023, when the previous generation freighters will become redundant.
Airbus stressed that despite their planned retirement from in-house operations, the Belugas "still have plenty of available flight-hours remaining before reaching their original design service limits". The aircraft are being replaced mostly due to higher capacity needs associated with the ramp-up in A350 Family production.
While much more limited in terms of payload compared to other outsized freighters, such as the An-124, the An-225, the B747-400(LCF), or the Il-76, the Beluga offers the world's largest cabin cross-section, allowing for the transportation of outsized freight without the need for dismantling. Airbus said this could be particularly attractive to the space, aerospace, and construction industries.
Airbus has today introduced its third Beluga XL aircraft to its fleet. The shiny new bulb headed giant flew from Airbus’ plant in Toulouse to Chester Hawarden Airport, home of its Broughton plant, where wings for most of its products are produced. It’s the third of six Beluga XLs that will be introduced to the Airbus fleet by 2023.
XL3, the third new Beluga, has taken its first operational flight today. Photo: Airbus
The XL3 arrives in the UK
Registered F-GXLI, the third Beluga flew from Toulouse to Chester in the North West of England. Taking off at 11:04 this morning, it flew for two hours and 34 minutes before landing at 12:39 local at Chester Hawarden Airport (CEG).
The third Beluga flew to the UK earlier today. Photo: FlightRadar24.com
The XL apparently had some windy conditions to deal with, as it made a couple of low passes before setting off for a bit of a detour around the area for a few minutes. On the third approach, she landed safely, completing the first revenue flight of this third Beluga XL.
Despite being just four miles southwest of the city of Chester, Hawarden Airport is actually in Flintshire, Wales. It is home to Airbus UK’s Broughton site, where Airbus produces wings for all models of aircraft, with the exception of the A220.
It has a long and colorful history in aviation, from being a shadow factory in World War II for Vickers Armstrongs Limited, producing Avro Lancasters and Vickers Wellingtons. After the war, de Havilland build a multitude of aircraft at the site, and in the ‘60s it became part of the Hawker Siddeley Aviation business.
Now, however, it is one of the main plants for Airbus in the UK, employing around 6,000 workers. F-GXLI, the third Beluga XL to join Airbus’ fleet, will be working hard transporting the output from the factory to final assembly lines for many years to come.
Where will it fly?
The Beluga XLs have a very niche routemap. As it is solely for transporting aircraft components between Airbus sites, it flies exclusively between production sites in Europe and its final assembly lines in Toulouse, France; Hamburg, Germany; and Tianjin, China. Recently, Airbus added Getafe in Spain to the network of these planes.
The Beluga XL can carry two A350 wings in one load. Photo: Airbus
The aircraft is based on the A330 freighter. Its predecessor, the BelugaST, was a modified A300. At 63 meters long and 8 meters wide, the Beluga XL has a superior cargo carrying capacity compared with the original BelugaST, and can transport two complete Airbus A350 wings in one go. The ST could only take one at a time.
Airbus to use a Beluga aircraft to transport medical supply from China
Toulouse, France - Airbus a heavy cargo aircraft from its Beluga fleet as part of its Corona relief flights. The plane, which otherwise transports huge aircraft between manufacturer's plants in Europe, carried face masks from Toulouse to Hamburg this time.
The masks, which arrived in Toulouse from China are now being redistributed by the German authorities to hospitals and medical facilities so that doctors and nurses can be adequately protected when dealing with corona-infected people.
More than six million professional face masks were transported from Tianjin to Toulouse in the past few days. Airbus said that there would be more flights from China to bring medical supplies needed in France and Germany.
Airbus recently used and A400M military transport aircraft to distribute masks from Toulouse.
