Aircraft
Airbus's BelugaXL To Fly By Mid-Year
Program schedule calls for 1,000 hours of flight testing before entering service in mid-2019
The first structurally complete BelugaXL rolls out of its assembly hangar in Toulouse, France, in January. (Photo: Airbus)
The first structurally complete BelugaXL rolls out of its assembly hangar in Toulouse, France, in January. (Photo: Airbus)

Airbus expects to fly the BelugaXL transport for the first time some six months after rolling out the first structurally complete airframe from its assembly line in Toulouse, France, in early January. Plans call for the first two of a fleet of aircraft to participate in the flight test program, scheduled for just under 1,000 hours. The manufacturer expects the first airplane to enter service in mid-2019, when it starts transporting wings between Broughton, UK; Bremen, Germany; and Toulouse, France. After the first airplanes enter service, a new BelugaXL will come on line every year until 2022. Final assembly of the first airframe started in January last year.