Aircraft
Airbus Freezes Beluga XL Design
Program on schedule for start of final assembly in 2017
Based on the A330, Airbus's new Beluga XL will carry 30 percent more cargo volume than today's Beluga. (Image: Airbus)
Based on the A330, Airbus's new Beluga XL will carry 30 percent more cargo volume than today's Beluga. (Image: Airbus)

Airbus’s Beluga XL program has passed its latest maturity gate milestone, marking the end of the “concept phase” or design freeze “at aircraft level,” Airbus announced on Wednesday. The company said the maturity gate review demonstrated that the Beluga XL program has shown enough robustness and maturity to move to the next phase of development, the detailed design phase.