An Airbus Beluga transporter – affectionately named due to its likeness to a Beluga whale – is reportedly due to make a rare visit to London Heathrow Airport later this month to drop off spare parts for a British Airways aircraft that has been grounded since April.
The damaged plane has been stranded at Heathrow since April 6 when a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner collided with the back of the British Airways Airbus A350 as it was being towed from its gate.
Luckily, no one was on either aircraft at the time of the accident at Heathrow Terminal 3 but both planes sustained pretty significant damage which have required extensive repairs.
The Virgin Atlantic airplane (registration: G-VDIA) only returned to service on June 21, but the British Airways A350 (registration: G-XWBC) remains on the ground at Heathrow because it suffered serious damage to the right-hand horizontal stabilizer.
Airbus uses its Beluga fleet to carry aircraft parts around the world, and its latest generation of transporter aircraft – dubbed the BelugaXL – can carry as much as 51 tonnes of cargo in its cavernous belly hold.
The Beluga is based on the Airbus A330 aircraft, and it usually carries sub-assemblies and components between Airbus’ European manufacturing sites in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK.
Since 2022, Airbus has also been hiring out its super-sized BelugaST aircraft for cargo services capable of carrying all manner of freight, including helicopters.
Airbus now operates a fleet of six BelugaXL aircraft, which are based at its Toulouse headquarters land which are capable of carrying the largest A350 fuselage section or two of the widebody’s 30-metre long wings – whereas its predecessor could only carry one.
Aviation insider M Zulqarnain B on X reports that the Airbus Beluga is due to visit London Heathrow on September 9 to deliver the spare parts required to repair BA’s damaged A350, although that timeline is subject to a last-minute change.
No doubt there will be plenty of plane spotters on duty at Heathrow on September 9 if that date sticks.
