E-Paper
Airbus Beluga lands in Mumbai | 5 things to know about whale-shaped aircraft
As per Airbus, Belugas are capable of handling outsized cargo of up to 7.1m in width and 6.7m in height and possess “the world's largest interior cross-section of any transport aircraft".
Prefer HTon Google
The whale-shaped Airbus Beluga, which is enjoying undivided attention since its arrival, made its maiden appearance at Mumbai airport on Tuesday. Hailed as a super transporter, Airbus A300-600ST is one the latest cargo planes - a commercial service provided by the European company Airbus.
The rare visitor was also spotted at Kolkata airport on Sunday where it had come for refuelling and crew rest, Kolkata airport tweeted sharing pictures of the “majestic beast”.
Here’s all you need to know about Airbus Beluga:
1) At a length of 56.15 metres, Airbus Beluga is capable of handling cargo for various sectors, including military, maritime, space, and humanitarian, among others.
Also Read | Artillery guns to rockets, army upgrades capability in Ladakh
2) It has a height of 17.25 metres, while the wing span is a stunning 44.24 metres. As one of the latest models, these super transporters offer a semi-automated main deck cargo loading system, making them efficient to handle payloads.
3) As per Airbus, Belugas are capable of handling outsized cargo of up to 7.1m in width and 6.7m in height and possess “the world's largest interior cross-section of any transport aircraft".
Also Read | India's first privately built rocket, Vikram-S, launched by ISRO
4) Airbus is a familiar name in the aerospace industry, a company based in Europe. While Belugas have been part of Airbus’s operations since the mid-1990s, they were launched as a service in January.
5) Airbus also revealed that their first launch actually took place at the end of December 2021. The mission was headed to Japan for an “undisclosed” customer which Beluga stopped for refuelling at three places, Poland, Russia, and Korea.
