You might also like:
SORRY, EVA Airlines’ Hello Kitty Shining Star Jet and ANA’s Star Wars-themed aircraft. You’ve just been one-upped by Airbus.
The oddly-shaped Airbus A300-600ST is a version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner specifically modified to transport large plane parts such as wings between Airbus’ European production factories to its final assembly lines in France, Germany, and Spain.
The newer version is larger, has a bulbous fuselage and nose cone, making it look like a beluga whale. Hence its nickname, BelugaXL.
Airbus unveiled the aircraft just as it rolled out of the assembly line at the paint hangar in Toulouse, France.
This ultra adorable plane must be a sight for commercial airline pilots’ sore eyes.
Here’s what we know about the BelugaXL:
The giant plane will undertake ground tests before its high-profile first flight sometime in mid-July this year.
A total of 72 development and certification ground tests must be performed before the BelugaXL’s maiden flight.
An Airbus A300-600ST unloading nose components at Hamburg Finkenwerder. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
It will then officially enter service in 2019 with four more BelugaXLs in the pipeline.
The post This has to be the cutest, happiest plane in the world appeared first on Travel Wire Asia.
Source: travelwireasia.com