A giant air transporter powered by engines made by Derby’s Rolls-Royce has entered into service.
Back in November, the Airbus BelugaXL, received its Type Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) , paving the way for entry into service by early 2020.
Now, the first aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce’s Trent 700 engines - designed, developed and assembled at the firm’s civil aerospace division at Sinfin - has started operating.
Based on an Airbus A330-200 airliner, the BelugaXL is the successor to the Airbus BelugaST.
The plane has been designed to move over-sized aircraft components and has an extra 30% capacity on the current Beluga planes that it will replace.
It is longer and wider than the current Beluga, which means it can carry two A350 XWB plane wings instead of one.
Weighing 125 tonnes, the hold of the BelugaXL is capable of carrying up to 51 tonnes for a distance of more than 2,200 miles.
The oversized transporter is now being used for carrying complete sections of Airbus aircraft from different production sites around Europe to the final assembly lines in Toulouse and Hamburg, in Germany.
In a statement, Airbus said: “This is the first of six BelugaXL to begin work alongside the BelugaST predecessors, with the additional aircraft being introduced between 2020 and 2023.
“The BelugaXL is the latest addition to Airbus’ transportation portfolio. While air transport remains the primary method for transporting large aircraft components, Airbus also uses road, rail and sea transport to move parts between its production sites.
“Like the BelugaST, the aircraft will operate from 11 destinations in Europe, continuing to strengthen industrial capabilities and enabling Airbus to deliver on its commitments.”
The BelugaXL completed its maiden flight in July, 2018. Sporting a distinctive whale-themed livery, the aircraft took off from the European base of Airbus, in Toulouse, France, and successfully completed a four-hour round trip.
The Trent 700 engine was the first member of the Trent family of engines built by Rolls-Royce to enter service 25 years ago.
Since then it has racked up tens of millions of flying hours with operators across the world.
To date, more than 2,000 Trent 700s have been delivered, making it Rolls-Royce’s best-selling engine, and helping the company to increase its widebody market share from 13% in 1995 to nearly 50% today.
Rolls-Royce has drawn on its Trent 700 experience to help create the Trent 7000 engine which powers the Airbus A330neo aircraft.
The Trent 7000, the seventh member of the Trent family, incorporates the latest technology from the Trent XWB, which is the world’s most efficient large civil engine.
