Airbus puts Beluga aircraft to the test

European aerospace giant Airbus on Thursday conducted the first test flight of the giant new Beluga XL, an even bigger version of the company’s workhorse transport aircraft, which has been in service since the mid-1990s. Decorated for the occasion as a “whale in the sky”, the aircraft’s crew took off to a cheering crowd of 10,000 people at Airbus’s facility in Toulouse, southern France. The A330-743L Beluga XL has grown 6m longer and 1m wider from the Beluga ST, stretching the aircraft’s carrying capacity by 30%.