Airbus Updates No.3354

 Airbus A300 B4-608ST 655  F-GSTA Airbus Transport International ferried 29apr21-TLS-BOD for storage ex F-WAST 

Airbus A319 -114 732  C-GAQL Air Canada ferried 29apr21 MCI-GWO for part-out & scrap ex D-AVYX 

Airbus A319 -111 3651  EC-KUB Iberia ferried 30apr21 MAD-WOE on return to lessor ex D-AVXA

 Airbus A319 -133CJ 5261  VP-CDS Deer Jet delivery 27apr21 HIA-HGH ex B-00777 

Airbus A320 -214 1712  OH-LXF Finnair ferried 28apr21 XCR-LDE (+ 1989 OH-LXI) ex F-WWIY  

Airbus A320 -214 1797  OO-SNC Brussels Airlines ferried 27apr21 BRU-EMA for paint, for Aero Mongolia ex D-ALTH 

Airbus A320 -232 2152  F-OJSB Aircalin ferried 27apr21 NOU-WLS-HNL-MZJ on return to lessor  

Airbus A320 -232 3531  HA-LYU Wizz Air ferried 30apr21 BUD-WOE on return to lessor ex UR-WUA 

Airbus A320 -232 3674  EI-GVA Standard Chartered Aviation Finance ferried 29-30apr21 AUH-MUC-DUB, all white, regd D-ANDI overtaped ex VH-VNG 

Airbus A320 -214 4641  VT-CCU AirAsia India ferried 27apr21 BLR-HYD after storage ex N209FR 

Airbus A320 -215 5086  9H-AHS Air Malta painted all whitre plus titl at MLA 27-30apr21 prior ops for Malta Medair ex 4R-ABP 

Airbus A320 -232 5429  OE-IEQ BOC Aviation ferried 29-30apr21 HKG-ALA-TLL, all white ex B-HSU 

Airbus A320 -232 6583  VP-CGY Saudi Gulf Airlines ferried 29apr21 DMM-AMM after storage ex F-WHUV 

Airbus A320 -251N 7576  VP-BOF SmartAvia delivery 29-30apr21 GYR-PSM-KEF-DME ex N576AE 

Airbus A320 -271N 10139  VQ-BSF S7 Airlines delivery 28apr21 TLS-DME ex F-WWDT 

Airbus A320 -271N 10175  VP-BSR S7 Airlines delivery 29apr21 TLS-DME ex F-WWDC 

Airbus A320 -271N 10263  B-323D Juneyao Airlines delivery 27-28apr21 XFW-NQZ-PVG ex F-WWIB 

Airbus A320 -271N 10399  B-321E Sichuan Airlines delivery 28-29apr21 TLS-NQZ-TSN, F-reg ex F-WWDV 

Airbus A320 -251N 10452  N374FR Frontier Airlines delivery 29apr21 BFM-TPA ex F-WZMX 

Airbus A320 -251N 10478  HZ-NS37 Flynas delivery 28apr21 TLS-JED ex F-WWIV

credit : Skyliner Aviation

Airbus Updates No.3351

 Airbus Retires The World’s First Beluga

The first-ever Airbus Beluga transport aircraft has left Broughton for the last time. Beluga number one departed the Airbus factory in North Wales just after 15:00 BST today, on its way to Hamburg for storage. It’s the second of the original fleet of five A300-600ST transporters to be placed in storage, as Airbus updates its fleet to the modern Beluga XL.

The first-ever Airbus Beluga has been removed from service. Photo: Getty Images

Come in number one; your time is up

Beluga number one, the first to grace the skies on behalf of Airbus Transport International, has officially left the building. The A300-600ST based aircraft has been with Airbus since October 1995, and is a ripe 26.6 years old.

As Airbus introduces more of the modern A330-based Beluga XL to its fleet, the original five are set to leave. The first to take retirement was Beluga number two, F-GSTB, which last flew on October 6th, 2020, from Airbus’ Toulouse home to Bordeaux for storage.

Now, the first-ever Beluga has taken her last flight for Airbus. F-GSTA took off from Hawarden in Flintshire at just after 15:00 BST today. It was a short, one-hour and 16 minute trip, directly east, to Hamburg. It landed at 17:19 local time.

Number one was the first ST to ever fly for Airbus. Photo: Getty Images

Airbus has its own facilities in Hamburg to remove useful parts or otherwise do some decommissioning work with the aircraft. Beluga number two also spent time in Hamburg before departing for storage in Bordeaux. As such, we could see number one taking a final ferry flight to the storage location in the coming days.

Data: RadarBox.com

Up until now, Beluga number one had been fairly busy for Airbus. In the last 12 months, she’d flown some 458 flights, with an average monthly utilization of 57.1 flight hours. But with newer, bigger sisters joining the fleet, it’s time for number one to rest her wings.

The XL is coming

To date, Airbus has taken delivery of two of the newer Beluga XL. These larger load-shifters are based on the Airbus A330, and carry the designation A330-700L. The first arrived with Airbus Transport International in December 2019, and a second joined the fleet in October 2020.

Interestingly, the two that are already flying for Airbus are XL2 and XL3. XL1 is yet to enter service, but is carrying the registration F-GXLG. AIBFamily shows that the aircraft has undertaken numerous test flights at Toulouse, the most recent of which was on April 9th. Perhaps it’s almost ready to enter service, and as such, Beluga number one was taken offline.

Also incoming is F-GXLJ, which we would like to assume will be XL4. However, spotters are yet to see the complete plane emerging for flight tests, so it’s likely to be some time before the fourth joins the fleet.

The Beluga XL offers 30% more cargo capacity than the original line, and are essential for moving large parts like wings from their production facilities to the final assembly lines for the planemaker. Airbus previously said it would seek ETOPS approval for at least two of the transporters, allowing them to fly transatlantic.