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135-399: The Airbus A300-600ST ( Super Transporter ), or Beluga , is a specialised wide-body airliner used to transport aircraft parts and outsize cargoes . It received the official name of Super Transporter early on, but its nickname, after the beluga whale , which it resembles, gained popularity and has since been officially adopted. Due to Airbus's manufacturing facilities being dispersed,

270-408: A Groupement d'intérêt économique would be established, allowing the various partners to work together on the project while remaining separate business entities. On 18 December 1970, Airbus Industrie was formally established following an agreement between Aérospatiale (the newly merged Sud Aviation and Nord Aviation ) of France and the antecedents to Deutsche Aerospace of Germany, each receiving

405-432: A 1.12 m (3 ft 8 in) base extension while the tailplane was strengthened and fitted with auxiliary fins to maintain directional stability. The tailplane trim tank was also deleted. To provide access to the cargo area from the front without having to disconnect all electrical, hydraulic and flight control connections (and also avoiding the lengthy recalibrations before each flight that reconnection entailed),

540-675: A 37.5 per cent work share on the project, while the West Germans would receive a 25 per cent share. Sud Aviation was recognized as the lead contractor for the A300, with Hawker Siddeley being selected as the British partner company. At the time, the news of the announcement had been clouded by the British Government's support for the Airbus, which coincided with its refusal to back BAC's proposed competitor,

675-611: A 50 per cent stake in the newly formed company. In 1971, the consortium was joined by a third full partner, the Spanish firm CASA , who received a 4.2 per cent stake, the other two members reducing their stakes to 47.9 per cent each. In 1979, Britain joined the Airbus consortium via British Aerospace , which Hawker Siddeley had merged into, which acquired a 20 per cent stake in Airbus Industrie with France and Germany each reducing their stakes to 37.9 per cent. Airbus Industrie

810-547: A Beluga was used to convey the Tranquility module of the International Space Station from Turin to Kennedy Space Center , United States . On 25 January 2022, Airbus announced a service offering outsize cargo transportation using its BelugaST fleet. Airbus Beluga Transport saw additional demand after sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 affected Russian-operated Antonov An-124 services and

945-542: A Boeing". Over time, the Super Guppies grew increasingly unsatisfactory for Airbus's ferrying needs: their age meant that operating expenses were high and ever-increasing, and growing Airbus production required greater capacity than could be provided by the existing fleet. Various options were studied to serve as a replacement transport medium for the Super Guppies, including methods of surface transportation by road, rail, and sea; these alternatives were discarded in favour of

1080-491: A combination of efficiency and passenger comfort and to increase the amount of cargo space. However, airlines quickly gave in to economic factors, and reduced the extra passenger space in order to insert more seats and increase revenue and profits. Wide-body aircraft are also used by commercial cargo airlines , along with other specialized uses. By the end of 2017, nearly 8,800 wide-body airplanes had been delivered since 1969, with production peaking at 412 in 2015. Following

1215-618: A fan diameter of 290 centimetres (116 in), slightly smaller than the GE90 engines on the Boeing 777. The Trent 900 is designed to fit into a Boeing 747-400F freighter for easier transport by air cargo . The interiors of aircraft, known as the aircraft cabin , have been undergoing evolution since the first passenger aircraft. Today, between one and four classes of travel are available on wide-body aircraft. Bar and lounge areas which were once installed on wide-body aircraft have mostly disappeared, but

1350-558: A few have returned in first class or business class on the Airbus A340-600 , Boeing 777-300ER , and on the Airbus A380. Emirates has installed showers for first-class passengers on the A380; twenty-five minutes are allotted for use of the room, and the shower operates for a maximum of five minutes. Depending on how the airline configures the aircraft, the size and seat pitch of

1485-574: A firm agreement on 29 May 1969, after the British withdrew from the project on 10 April 1969. A new collaborative aerospace company , Airbus Industrie GIE , was formally created on 18 December 1970 to develop and produce it. The A300 prototype first flew on 28 October 1972. The first twin-engine widebody airliner, the A300 typically seats 247 passengers in two classes over a range of 5,375 to 7,500 km (2,900 to 4,050 nmi; 3,340 to 4,660 mi). Initial variants are powered by General Electric CF6-50 or Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofans and have

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1620-523: A flight deck upgrade based around Honeywell Primus Epic avionics; new displays and flight management system (FMS), improved weather radar , a central maintenance system, and a new version of the current enhanced ground proximity warning system . With a light usage of only two to three cycles per day, it will not reach the maximum number of cycles by then. The first modification will be made at Airbus Toulouse in 2019 and certified in 2020. As of July 2017, there are 211 A300s in service with 22 operators, with

1755-432: A greater number of passenger seats. Engineers realized having two decks created difficulties in meeting emergency evacuation regulations with the technology available at that time. During the 1960s, it was also believed that supersonic airliners would succeed larger, slower planes. Thus, it was believed that most subsonic aircraft would become obsolete for passenger travel and would be eventually converted to freighters. As

1890-614: A high-lift system. This was done to improve performance when operating at high-altitude airports, where the air is less dense and lift generation is reduced. The variant had an increased MTOW of 142 t (313,000 lb) and was powered by CF6-50C engines, was certified on 23 June 1976, and entered service with South African Airways in November 1976. CF6-50C1 and CF6-50C2 models were also later fitted depending on customer requirements, these became certified on 22 February 1978 and 21 February 1980 respectively. The A300B2-320 introduced

2025-502: A multinational airliner project to invigorate its aircraft industry, which had declined considerably following the Second World War . During the mid-1960s, both Air France and American Airlines had expressed interest in a short-haul twin-engine wide-body aircraft , indicating a market demand for such an aircraft to be produced. In July 1967, during a high-profile meeting between French, German, and British ministers, an agreement

2160-487: A principally air-based solution as they were considered time-consuming and unreliable; in addition, the assembly line in Toulouse was not conveniently accessible by any of the surface methods. A key requirement of the new air transporter was the need to accommodate every major component being manufactured by Airbus, including the then-heaviest planned part, the wing of the larger Airbus A340 variants. A speedy development program

2295-525: A recambered trailing edge, the incorporation of simpler single-slotted Fowler flaps , the deletion of slat fences, and the removal of the outboard ailerons after they were deemed unnecessary on the A310. The variant made its first flight on 8 July 1983, was certified on 9 March 1984, and entered service in June 1984 with Saudi Arabian Airlines . A total of 313 A300-600s (all versions) have been sold. The A300-600 uses

2430-497: A result, airline manufacturers opted for a wider fuselage rather than a taller one (the 747 , and eventually the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar ). By adding a second aisle, the wider aircraft could accommodate as many as 10 seats across, but could also be easily converted to a freighter and carry two eight-by-eight freight pallets abreast. The engineers also opted for creating "stretched" versions of

2565-728: A service offering outsize cargo transportation using its Beluga fleet. During the 2010s, Airbus developed a slightly larger successor, the BelugaXL , based on the Airbus A330-200 . This fleet, which entered service in January 2020, is intended to eventually replace the original Beluga fleet, which was entering its third decade. However, all aircraft have remained operational as of November 2024. When Airbus commenced operations in 1970, ground vehicles were initially used to move components and sections; however, growth in production volume soon necessitated

2700-531: A similar high-lift system to what was later fitted to the A300B2-200. The variant made its maiden flight on 26 December 1974, was certified on 26 March 1975, and entered service with Germanair in May 1975. The A300B4-200 had an increased MTOW of 165 tonnes (364,000 lb) and featured an additional optional fuel tank in the rear cargo hold, which would reduce the cargo capacity by two LD3 containers. The variant

2835-690: A similar manner to that of the A300-based Beluga. At the time, derivatives of both the Airbus A330 and the A340 were studied, including combining the upward-swinging hinged door of the Beluga with a conventional upper deck as an alternative to a side-mounted cargo door in traditional freighter missions. During the 1990s, as a result of reported inquiries to Airbus regarding the type, a niche market for selling Beluga-type aircraft to military customers and freight operators

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2970-658: A single Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter from Marseille , France, to Melbourne , Australia, for the Avalon Airshow . In 1999, a Beluga carried a large painting, Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix , which had hung in the Louvre in Paris since 1874. It was flown from Paris to Tokyo via Bahrain and Kolkata in about 20 hours. The large canvas, measuring 2.99 metres (9.81 ft) high by 3.62 metres (11.88 ft) long,

3105-399: A switch to air transport. From 1972 onwards, a fleet of four highly modified Aero Spacelines "Super Guppies" took over. These were 1940s-era Boeing Stratocruisers that had been converted with turbine engines and custom fuselages to carry large-volume loads for NASA 's space program in the 1960s. Airbus' use of the Super Guppies led to the jest that "every Airbus is delivered on the wings of

3240-420: A three-crew flight deck. The improved A300-600 has a two-crew cockpit and updated CF6-80C2 or PW4000 engines; it made its first flight on 8 July 1983 and entered service later that year. The A300 is the basis of the smaller A310 (first flown in 1982) and was adapted in a freighter version. Its cross section was retained for the larger four-engined A340 (1991) and the larger twin-engined A330 (1992). It

3375-410: A total of four aircraft, was relatively problem-free, accumulating 1,580 flight hours throughout. In September 1973, as part of promotional efforts for the A300, the new aircraft was taken on a six-week tour around North America and South America , to demonstrate it to airline executives, pilots, and would-be customers. Amongst the consequences of this expedition, it had allegedly brought the A300 to

3510-495: A twinjet. Most modern wide-body aircraft have two engines, although the heaviest wide-body aircraft, the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8, are built with four engines. The upcoming Boeing 777X-9 twinjet is approaching the capacity of the earlier Boeing 747. The Boeing 777 twinjet features the most powerful jet engine, the General Electric GE90 . The early variants have a fan diameter of 312 centimetres (123 in), and

3645-444: A two-pilot flight crew to fly the aircraft alone without the need for a flight engineer , the functions of which were automated; this two-man cockpit concept was a world-first for a wide-body aircraft. Glass cockpit flight instrumentation, which used cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors to display flight, navigation, and warning information, along with fully digital dual autopilots and digital flight control computers for controlling

3780-549: A vital market that was ready to be opened up and believed Korean Air to be the 'key'. Airlines operating the A300 on short-haul routes were forced to reduce frequencies to try and fill the aircraft. As a result, they lost passengers to airlines operating more frequent narrow-body flights. Eventually, Airbus had to build its own narrowbody aircraft (the A320 ) to compete with the Boeing 737 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 / MD-80 . The saviour of

3915-558: Is 7.4 m (24 ft) in diameter and 37.7 m (124 ft) long; maximum payload is 47 tonnes. In late 1997, in response to the positive performance of the A300-600ST Super Transporter program, SATIC announced that it was in the process of evaluating several different prospective outsize freighter conversions; company chairman Udo Dräger indicated that a larger freighter based on the Airbus A340 could be developed in

4050-560: Is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first twin-engine , double-aisle (wide-body) airliner . It was developed by Airbus Industrie GIE , now merged into Airbus SE , and manufactured from 1971 to 2007. In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in France , West Germany and the United Kingdom signed an initial memorandum of understanding to collaborate to develop an innovative large airliner. The French and West Germans reached

4185-423: Is also the basis for the oversize Beluga transport (1994). Unlike most Airbus products, it has a yoke , not using a fly-by-wire system. Launch customer Air France introduced the type on 23 May 1974. After limited demand initially, sales took off as the type was proven in early service, beginning three decades of steady orders. It has a similar capacity to the Boeing 767 -300, introduced in 1986, but lacked

Airbus Beluga - Misplaced Pages Continue

4320-400: Is made available for hire by third parties for charter flight. In May 1998, ATI reportedly had an annual revenue target of $ 15 million to be achieved via leasing spare capacity. Over time, the Beluga has been used to carry a variety of special loads, including space station components, large and delicate artwork, industrial machinery, and intact helicopters. The A300-600ST's freight compartment

4455-427: Is not only influenced by cost and convenience; it is also a matter of aviation history and national interests. Traditionally, each of the Airbus partners makes an entire aircraft section, which would then be transported to a central location for final assembly; even after the integration of Airbus into a single firm, the arrangement had largely remained the same, with Airbus partners becoming subsidiaries or contractors of

4590-410: Is powered by a pair of underwing turbofan engines, either General Electric CF6 or Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines; the sole use of underwing engine pods allowed for any suitable turbofan engine to be more readily used. The lack of a third tail-mounted engine, as per the trijet configuration used by some competing airliners, allowed for the wings to be located further forwards and to reduce the size of

4725-409: Is the use of composite materials on a commercial aircraft, which were used on both secondary and later primary airframe structures, decreasing overall weight and improving cost-effectiveness. Other firsts included the pioneering use of centre-of-gravity control, achieved by transferring fuel between various locations across the aircraft, and electrically signalled secondary flight controls. The A300

4860-507: Is wide enough for 2 LD3 cargo containers side by side. Structures are made from metal billets , reducing weight. It is the first airliner to be fitted with wind shear protection . Its advanced autopilots are capable of flying the aircraft from climb-out to landing, and it has an electrically controlled braking system. Later A300s incorporated other advanced features such as the Forward-Facing Crew Cockpit (FFCC), which enabled

4995-493: The Boeing 747 freighter. The A300 provided Airbus the experience of manufacturing and selling airliners competitively. The basic fuselage of the A300 was later stretched ( A330 and A340 ), shortened (A310), or modified into derivatives ( A300-600ST Beluga Super Transporter ). In 2006, unit cost of an −600F was $ 105 million. In March 2006, Airbus announced the impending closure of the A300/A310 final assembly line, making them

5130-491: The Far East . As a result, The aircraft found particular favor with Asian airlines, being bought by Japan Air System , Korean Air , China Eastern Airlines , Thai Airways International , Singapore Airlines , Malaysia Airlines , Philippine Airlines , Garuda Indonesia , China Airlines , Pakistan International Airlines , Indian Airlines , Trans Australia Airlines and many others. As Asia did not have restrictions similar to

5265-684: The Paris Air Show , French transport minister Jean Chamant and German economics minister Karl Schiller signed an agreement officially launching the Airbus A300, the world's first twin-engine widebody airliner. The intention of the project was to produce an aircraft that was smaller, lighter, and more economical than its three-engine American rivals, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar . In order to meet Air France's demands for an aircraft larger than 250-seat A300B, it

5400-684: The Pratt & Whitney JT9D powerplant and was powered by JT9D-59A engines. It retained the 142 t (313,000 lb) MTOW of the B2-200, was certified on 4 January 1980, and entered service with Scandinavian Airlines on 18 February 1980, with only four being produced. The initial A300B4 variant, later named the A300B4-100, included a centre fuel tank for an increased fuel capacity of 47.5 tonnes (105,000 lb), and had an increased MTOW of 157.5 tonnes (347,000 lb). It also featured Krueger flaps and had

5535-676: The President of the United States . Some wide-body aircraft have been modified to enable transport of oversize cargo . Examples include the Airbus Beluga , Airbus BelugaXL and Boeing Dreamlifter . Two specially modified Boeing 747s were used to transport the U.S. Space Shuttle , while the Antonov An-225 was initially built to carry the Buran shuttle . Airbus A300 The Airbus A300

Airbus Beluga - Misplaced Pages Continue

5670-717: The United States , it is a requirement to suffix the aircraft's call sign with the word heavy (or super ) when communicating with air traffic control in certain areas. Wide-body aircraft are used in science, research, and the military. Some wide-body aircraft are used as flying command posts by the military like the Ilyushin Il-80 or the Boeing E-4 , while the Boeing E-767 is used for airborne early warning and control . New military weapons are tested aboard wide-bodies, as in

5805-551: The Vickers VC10 and Douglas DC-9 , but with a wide-body fuselage. The British BAC Three-Eleven project did not proceed due to lack of government backing, while the Russian Ilyushin Il-86 wide-body proposal eventually gave way to a more conventional wing-mounted engine design, most likely due to the inefficiencies of mounting such large engines on the aft fuselage. As jet engine power and reliability have increased over

5940-411: The airline seats will vary significantly. For example, aircraft scheduled for shorter flights are often configured at a higher seat density than long-haul aircraft. Due to current economic pressures on the airline industry, high seating densities in the economy class cabin are likely to continue. In some of the largest single-deck wide-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 777, the extra space above

6075-519: The spoilers , flaps , and leading-edge slats , were also adopted upon later-built models. Additional composites were also made use of, such as carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP), as well as their presence in an increasing proportion of the aircraft's components, including the spoilers, rudder , air brakes , and landing gear doors. Another feature of later aircraft was the addition of wingtip fences , which improved aerodynamic performance and thus reduced cruise fuel consumption by about 1.5% for

6210-441: The vertical stabiliser and elevator , which had the effect of increasing the aircraft's flight performance and fuel efficiency. Airbus partners had employed the latest technology, some of which having been derived from Concorde , on the A300. According to Airbus, new technologies adopted for the airliner were selected principally for increased safety, operational capability, and profitability. Upon entry into service in 1974,

6345-561: The wake turbulence they produce. Because wake turbulence is generally related to the weight of an aircraft, these categories are based on one of four weight categories: light, medium, heavy, and super. Due to their weight, all current wide-body aircraft are categorized as " heavy ", or in the case of the A380 in U.S. airspace, "super". The wake-turbulence category also is used to guide the separation of aircraft. Super- and heavy-category aircraft require greater separation behind them than those in other categories. In some countries, such as

6480-549: The 767-300ER range. During the 1990s, the A300 became popular with cargo aircraft operators, as both passenger airliner conversions and as original builds. Production ceased in July 2007 after 561 deliveries. As of September 2023 , there are 197 A300 family aircraft still in commercial service. During the 1960s, European aircraft manufacturers such as Hawker Siddeley and the British Aircraft Corporation , based in

6615-563: The A300 and the A310 at that time. On 31 May 2014, China Eastern officially retired the last A300-600 in its fleet, having begun drawing down the type in 2010. From 1997 to 2014, a single A300, designated A300 Zero-G , was operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) as a reduced-gravity aircraft for conducting research into microgravity ;

6750-433: The A300 is the largest aircraft to ever have been used in this capacity. A typical flight would last for two and a half hours, enabling up to 30 parabolas to be performed per flight. By the 1990s, the A300 was being heavily promoted as a cargo freighter. The largest freight operator of the A300 is FedEx Express , which has 65 A300 aircraft in service as of May 2022. UPS Airlines also operates 52 freighter versions of

6885-422: The A300 was a very advanced plane, which went on to influence later airliner designs. The technological highlights include advanced wings by de Havilland (later BAE Systems ) with supercritical airfoil sections for economical performance and advanced aerodynamically efficient flight control surfaces . The 5.64 m (222 in) diameter circular fuselage section allows an eight-abreast passenger seating and

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7020-472: The A300 was the advent of ETOPS, a revised FAA rule which allows twin-engine jets to fly long-distance routes that were previously off-limits to them. This enabled Airbus to develop the aircraft as a medium/long-range airliner. In 1977, US carrier Eastern Air Lines leased four A300s as an in-service trial. CEO Frank Borman was impressed that the A300 consumed 30% less fuel, even less than expected, than Eastern's fleet of L-1011s . The A300 would replacing

7155-470: The A300-600. In addition to passenger duties, the A300 became widely used by air freight operators; according to Airbus, it is the best-selling freight aircraft of all time. Various variants of the A300 were built to meet customer demands, often for diverse roles such as aerial refueling tankers, freighter models (new-build and conversions), combi aircraft , military airlifter , and VIP transport. Perhaps

7290-476: The A300-600ST "Beluga" to enter service shortly thereafter. Originally a total of four aircraft were to be built along with an option for a fifth aircraft being available, which was later firmed up. Apart from the first Beluga, each airframe took an average of three years to complete from start to finish; they were built at a rate of one per year. Modification work was performed at Toulouse using components provided by

7425-459: The A300. The final version was the A300-600R and is rated for 180-minute ETOPS. The A300 has enjoyed renewed interest in the secondhand market for conversion to freighters; large numbers were being converted during the late 1990s. The freighter versions – either new-build A300-600s or converted ex-passenger A300-600s, A300B2s and B4s – account for most of the world's freighter fleet after

7560-478: The A300B4 one year later. Initially, the success of the consortium was poor, in part due to the economic consequences of the 1973 oil crisis , but by 1979 there were 81 A300 passenger liners in service with 14 airlines, alongside 133 firm orders and 88 options. Ten years after the official launch of the A300, the company had achieved a 26 per cent market share in terms of dollar value, enabling Airbus to proceed with

7695-461: The A300B4-200FFCC with the newly Forward-Facing Crew Cockpit concept, the world's first wide-body aircraft that only operated by two-man cockpit crew. By 1981, Airbus was growing rapidly, with over 400 aircraft sold to over forty airlines. In 1989, Chinese operator China Eastern Airlines received its first A300; by 2006, the airline operated around 18 A300s, making it the largest operator of both

7830-552: The A310 cockpits, featuring digital technology and electronic displays, eliminating the need for a flight engineer. The FAA issues a single type rating which allows operation of both the A310 and A300-600. Airbus had demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300. On 7 July 1978, the A310 (initially the A300B10) was launched with orders from Swissair and Lufthansa. On 3 April 1982, the first prototype conducted its maiden flight and it received its type certification on 11 March 1983. Keeping

7965-559: The A350, while the following aircraft were to be progressively introduced as the A300-600 Beluga fleet was withdrawn. The A300-600ST Beluga shares many design similarities, although differing substantially in appearance, to the Airbus A300 upon which it was based. The wings, engines, landing gear, and the lower part of the fuselage remain identical to those used on the conventional A300, while

8100-405: The Airbus assembly line. The fleet's primary task is to carry Airbus components ready for final assembly across Europe between Toulouse, Hamburg, and nine other sites, and they do so 60 times per week. The Beluga fleet is owned by Airbus Transport International (ATI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus Group that was established specifically to operate the type; through this organisation, the fleet

8235-524: The BAC 2–11, despite a preference for the latter expressed by British European Airways (BEA). Another parameter was the requirement for a new engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce to power the proposed airliner; a derivative of the in-development Rolls-Royce RB211 , the triple-spool RB207, capable of producing of 47,500 lbf (211 kN). The programme cost was US$ 4.6 billion (in 1993 dollars, equivalent to $ 8.76 billion in 2023). In December 1968,

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8370-466: The Beluga resulted in the costs associated with transporting Airbus components dropping to one-third of those being incurred operating the Super Guppy. The cockpit of the Beluga is pressurized but the cargo deck is not, making it inaccessible during flight and unsuitable for cargoes that require a pressurized environment, such as live animals. However, the cargo deck is fitted with a heating module to keep

8505-609: The Beluga, many of which being delivered after its entry to service. In 2011, Pau Pyrénées Airport , a site routinely visited by Belugas, became the first airport in Europe to deploy the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service , which accurately guides the Beluga and other aircraft during landing. In 2015, a dedicated Beluga loading station was opened at Hawarden Airport , preventing high winds from disrupting future operations. A two-bay loading dock

8640-449: The Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 "jumbo jets" have four engines each (quad-jets), but the upcoming Boeing 777X ("mini jumbo jet") is a twinjet. In the mid-2000s, rising oil costs in a post- 9/11 climate caused airlines to look towards newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft. Two such examples are the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 XWB . The proposed Comac C929 and C939 may also share this new wide-body market. The production of

8775-594: The C-5 Galaxy and 150 tonnes for the An-124. Despite this width, the Beluga cannot carry most fuselage parts of the Airbus A380 , which are instead normally transported by ship and road; nevertheless, some A380 components have been transported by Belugas. In January 1996, the Beluga formally entered service, ferrying components from various aerospace sites to the final assembly lines. The geographic location of Airbus manufacturing

8910-569: The DC-10-based Tanker 910 and the 747-200 -based Evergreen Supertanker . Some wide-body aircraft are used as VIP transport. To transport those holding the highest offices, Canada uses the Airbus A310 , while Russia uses the Ilyushin Il-96 . Germany replaced its Airbus A310 with an Airbus A340 in spring 2011. Specially-modified Boeing 747-200s ( Boeing VC-25s ) are used to transport

9045-514: The DC-8 (61, 62 and 63 models), as well as longer versions of Boeing's 707 (-320B and 320C models) and 727 (-200 model); and Douglas' DC-9 (-30, -40, and -50 models), all of which were capable of accommodating more seats than their shorter predecessor versions. The wide-body age began in 1970 with the entry into service of the first wide-body airliner, the four-engined, partial double-deck Boeing 747 . New trijet wide-body aircraft soon followed, including

9180-554: The FAA 60-minutes rule for twin-engine airliners which existed at the time, Asian airlines used A300s for routes across the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea . In 1977, the A300B4 became the first ETOPS compliant aircraft, qualifying for Extended Twin Engine Operations over water, providing operators with more versatility in routing. In 1982 Garuda Indonesia became the first airline to fly

9315-536: The French and British partner companies (Sud Aviation and Hawker Siddeley) proposed a revised configuration, the 250-seat Airbus A250. It had been feared that the original 300-seat proposal was too large for the market, thus it had been scaled down to produce the A250. The dimensional changes involved in the shrink reduced the length of the fuselage by 5.62 metres (18.4 ft) and the diameter by 0.8 metres (31 in), reducing

9450-686: The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the L-1011 TriStar. The first wide-body twinjet , the Airbus A300 , entered service in 1974. This period came to be known as the "wide-body wars". L-1011 TriStars were demonstrated in the USSR in 1974, as Lockheed sought to sell the aircraft to Aeroflot. However, in 1976 the Soviet Union launched its own first four-engined wide-body, the Ilyushin Il-86 . After

9585-675: The UK, and Sud Aviation of France, had ambitions to build a new 200-seat airliner for the growing civil aviation market. While studies were performed and considered, such as a stretched twin-engine variant of the Hawker Siddeley Trident and an expanded development of the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) One-Eleven , designated the BAC Two-Eleven , it was recognized that if each of the European manufacturers were to launch similar aircraft into

9720-617: The US market, it was decided that General Electric CF6-50 engines would power the A300 in place of the British RB207; these engines would be produced in co-operation with French firm Snecma . By this time, Rolls-Royce had been concentrating their efforts upon developing their RB211 turbofan engine instead and progress on the RB207's development had been slow for some time, the firm having suffered due to funding limitations, both of which had been factors in

9855-676: The United Kingdom and France to the Gulf Coast of the United States as part of disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina . The Beluga has seen recurrent use to transport bulky objects, including vehicles, for various different space programs . In 2001, sections of the unmanned Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) space vehicle were transported by a Beluga from Turin , Italy, to Amsterdam , Netherlands . In 2004, multiple Beluga flights were made to Baikonur Cosmodrome , Kazakhstan , to deliver Astrium -built satellites. In 2009,

9990-451: The aging DC-9s and 727-100s but in smaller numbers, while being a twinjet sized between the Tristars and 727-200s, and capable of operating from short runway airports with sufficient range from New York City to Miami. Borman proceeded to order 23 A300s, becoming the first U.S. customer for the type. This order is often cited as the point at which Airbus came to be seen as a serious competitor to

10125-482: The airliner. The second prototype was leased to Trans European Airways in 1974. Responding to a need for more seats from Air France , Airbus decided that the first production variant should be larger than the original prototype A300B1. The CF6-50A powered A300B2-100 was 2.6 m (8.5 ft) longer than the A300B1 and had an increased MTOW of 137 t (302,000 lb), allowing for 30 additional seats and bringing

10260-520: The attention of Frank Borman , the CEO of Eastern Airlines , one of the "big four" U.S. airlines. On 15 March 1974, type certificates were granted for the A300 from both German and French authorities, clearing the way for its entry into revenue service. On 23 May 1974, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification was received. The first production model, the A300B2, entered service in 1974, followed by

10395-417: The cabin is used for crew rest areas and galley storage. The term "jumbo jet" usually refers to the largest variants of wide-body airliners; examples include the Boeing 747 (the first wide-body and original "jumbo jet"), Airbus A380 ("superjumbo jet"), and Boeing 777-9 . The phrase "jumbo jet" derives from Jumbo , a circus elephant in the 19th century. Aircraft are categorized by ICAO according to

10530-495: The cargo within an appropriate temperature range. On at least one occasion, a pressurized container has been used for cargo. The aircraft is operated by a crew of three – two pilots and a loadmaster. The main deck cargo volume of the Beluga is greater than that of the C-5 Galaxy or the Antonov An-124, but still smaller than Antonov An-225. However, it is restricted by cargo-weight capacity of 47 tonnes, compared to 122.5 tonnes for

10665-551: The company came to favour developing a derivative of its standard A300-600 . In August 1991, a new joint venture company, Super Airbus Transport International (SATIC), was formed to pursue the venture. Construction of the first aircraft began during September 1992; it performed its maiden flight on 13 September 1994. Entering service in September 1995, the Super Transporter was a larger, faster, and more efficient aircraft than

10800-404: The company had a long term need to transport sizeable components, such as wings and fuselage sections, to their final assembly lines. This had been met by a small fleet of Aero Spacelines "Super Guppies" , but these aircraft were aged and increasingly maintenance-intensive to keep in operation. While several different existing aircraft were studied, none were found to be fully satisfactory. Instead,

10935-477: The company's long-term success. On 26 September 1967, the French, West German and British governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start the development of the 300-seat Airbus A300. At this point, the A300 was only the second major joint aircraft programme in Europe, the first being the Anglo-French Concorde . Under the terms of the memorandum, the French and British were to each receive

11070-467: The control systems, and lower-centre portion of the fuselage, Hawker Siddeley would manufacture the wings, while German companies would produce the forward, rear and upper part of the center fuselage sections. Additional work included moving elements of the wings being produced in the Netherlands , and Spain producing the horizontal tail plane. An early design goal for the A300 that Béteille had stressed

11205-407: The core, then the engines may be shipped on a Boeing 747 Freighter. The General Electric GE9X , powering the Boeing 777X, is wider than the GE90 by 15 centimetres (6 in). The 560 tonnes (1,230,000 lb) maximum takeoff weight of the Airbus A380 would not have been possible without the engine technology developed for the Boeing 777 such as contra-rotating spools. Its Trent 900 engine has

11340-529: The destruction of the sole Antonov An-225; the company stated that it foresaw in excess of 150 such flights being performed annually. In September 2022, Airbus began testing a new loading system for handling outsized military cargo with the BelugaST fleet. A verification exercise was conducted with the German armed forces, the system’s first customer, during which a Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion military transport helicopter

11475-458: The developing aircraft, as well against using Metric instrumentation and measurements, as most airlines already had US-built aircraft. These decisions were partially influenced by feedback from various airlines, such as Air France and Lufthansa , as an emphasis had been placed on determining the specifics of what kind of aircraft that potential operators were seeking. According to Airbus, this cultural approach to market research had been crucial to

11610-453: The development of its second aircraft, the Airbus A310 . The Airbus A300 is a wide-body medium-to-long range airliner ; it has the distinction of being the first twin-engine wide-body aircraft in the world. In 1977, the A300 became the first Extended Range Twin Operations (ETOPS)-compliant aircraft, due to its high performance and safety standards. Another world-first of the A300

11745-493: The engine switch decision. On 10 April 1969, a few months after the decision to drop the RB207 had been announced, the British government announced that they would withdraw from the Airbus venture. In response, West Germany proposed to France that they would be willing to contribute up to 50% of the project's costs if France was prepared to do the same. Additionally, the managing director of Hawker Siddeley, Sir Arnold Alexander Hall , decided that his company would remain in

11880-500: The first Airbus aircraft to be discontinued. The final production A300, an A300F freighter, performed its initial flight on 18 April 2007, and was delivered to FedEx Express on 12 July 2007. Airbus has announced a support package to keep A300s flying commercially. Airbus offers the A330-200F freighter as a replacement for the A300 cargo variants. The life of UPS's fleet of 52 A300s, delivered from 2000 to 2006, will be extended to 2035 by

12015-415: The fleet being able to spare only 130 flight hours for such duties that year. But as more Beluga aircraft were put into service, availability increased drastically, rising to 600 flight hours in 1998 and around 1,000 flight hours in 1999; this effectively enabled one of the five Beluga aircraft to spend much of its operating hours performing charter flights. Amongst the early customers chartering Beluga flights

12150-431: The flight testing of the A300B2, Airbus held a series of talks with Korean Air on the topic of developing a longer-range version of the A300, which would become the A300B4. In September 1974, Korean Air placed an order for four A300B4s with options for two further aircraft; this sale was viewed as significant as it was the first non-European international airline to order Airbus aircraft. Airbus had viewed South-East Asia as

12285-405: The importance of was the incorporation of a high level of technology, which would serve as a decisive advantage over prospective competitors. For this reason, the A300 would feature the first use of composite materials of any passenger aircraft, the leading and trailing edges of the tail fin being composed of glass fibre reinforced plastic . Béteille opted for English as the working language for

12420-522: The large Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380 four-engine, long-haul jets has come to an end as airlines are now preferring the smaller, more efficient Airbus A350, Boeing 787 and Boeing 777 twin-engine, long-range airliners. Although wide-body aircraft have larger frontal areas (and thus greater form drag ) than narrow-body aircraft of similar capacity, they have several advantages over their narrow-body counterparts, such as: British and Russian designers had proposed wide-body aircraft similar in configuration to

12555-473: The large American aircraft-manufacturers Boeing and McDonnell Douglas . Aviation author John Bowen alleged that various concessions, such as loan guarantees from European governments and compensation payments, were a factor in the decision as well. Although the A300 was originally too large for Eastern's exiting routes, Airbus provided a fixed subsidy for a 57% load factor which decreased for every percent above that figure. The Eastern Air Lines breakthrough

12690-456: The larger GE90-115B has a fan diameter of 325 centimetres (128 in). This is almost as wide as the 3.30 metres (130 in) Fokker 100 fuselage. Complete GE90 engines can only be ferried by outsize cargo aircraft such as the Antonov An-124 , presenting logistics problems if a 777 is stranded in a place due to emergency diversions without the proper spare parts. If the fan is removed from

12825-407: The largest operator being FedEx Express with 68 A300-600F aircraft. The A300B1 was the first variant to take flight. It had a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 132 t (291,000 lb), was 51 m (167 ft) long and was powered by two General Electric CF6-50A engines. Only two prototypes of the variant were built before it was adapted into the A300B2, the first production variant of

12960-469: The laser weapons testing on the Boeing YAL-1 . Other wide-body aircraft are used as flying research stations, such as the joint German–U.S. Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). Airbus A340, Airbus A380, and Boeing 747 four-engine wide-body aircraft are used to test new generations of aircraft engines in flight. A few aircraft have also been converted for aerial firefighting , such as

13095-489: The last decades, most of the wide-body aircraft built today have only two engines. A twinjet design is more fuel-efficient than a trijet or quadjet of similar size. The increased reliability of modern jet engines also allows aircraft to meet the ETOPS certification standard, which calculates reasonable safety margins for flights across oceans. The trijet design was dismissed due to higher maintenance and fuel costs compared to

13230-502: The limited 1,663 m (5,456 ft) runway at Hawarden Airport near Broughton in Wales . In May 2015, Airbus confirmed that the new aircraft would have a 1 m (3 ft 3 in) wider cross-section than its predecessor and provide a 12% increase in payload. The BelugaXL is intended primarily for A350 work, designed to ship two A350 wings simultaneously. The first two aircraft were considered essential to facilitate mass production of

13365-400: The major Airbus partners, formed a 50/50 joint venture company, Super Airbus Transport International (SATIC), based in Toulouse, to develop a new-build replacement for the Super Guppy fleet. The selected starting point for the design was the Airbus A300, leading to the new airframe being designated as the A300-600ST Super Transporter. Following a pre-design period by SATIC, detailed design work

13500-410: The manufacturing sites were more than two hours away. Having the sections airlifted in this manner made the A300 the first airliner to use just-in-time manufacturing techniques, and allowed each company to manufacture its sections as fully equipped, ready-to-fly assemblies. In September 1969, construction of the first prototype A300 began. On 28 September 1972, this first prototype was unveiled to

13635-515: The market at the same time, neither would achieve sales volume needed to make them viable. In 1965, a British government study, known as the Plowden Report, had found British aircraft production costs to be between 10% and 20% higher than American counterparts due to shorter production runs, which was in part due to the fractured European market. To overcome this factor, the report recommended the pursuit of multinational collaborative projects between

13770-480: The most visually unique of the variants is the A300-600ST Beluga , an oversized cargo-carrying model operated by Airbus to carry aircraft sections between their manufacturing facilities. The A300 was the basis for, and retained a high level of commonality with, the second airliner produced by Airbus, the smaller Airbus A310. On 23 May 1974, the first A300 to enter service performed the first commercial flight of

13905-568: The multinational pan-European company. The details vary from one model to another, but the general arrangement is for the wings and landing gear to be made in the UK, the tail and doors in Spain, the fuselage in Germany, and the nose and centre-section in France, with final assembly in either Toulouse , France; Hamburg , Germany; or Seville , Spain. On 24 October 1997, the last of Airbus's Super Guppy freighters

14040-461: The overall weight by 25 tonnes (55,000 lb). For increased flexibility, the cabin floor was raised so that standard LD3 freight containers could be accommodated side-by-side, allowing more cargo to be carried. Refinements made by Hawker Siddeley to the wing's design provided for greater lift and overall performance; this gave the aircraft the ability to climb faster and attain a level cruising altitude sooner than any other passenger aircraft. It

14175-441: The partner companies scattered across Europe to this one location. The combined use of ferries and roads were used for the assembly of the first A300, however this was time-consuming and not viewed as ideal by Felix Kracht , Airbus Industrie's production director. Kracht's solution was to have the various A300 sections brought to Toulouse by a fleet of Boeing 377 -derived Aero Spacelines Super Guppy aircraft, by which means none of

14310-524: The preceding Super Guppies. A total of five aircraft were built for Airbus; while additional new-build aircraft were offered to prospective operators by SATIC during the 1990s, no other customers ordered the type. In addition to its primary task of conveying Airbus components, the Super Transporter fleet has occasionally been used for charter flights , carrying outsized cargoes for various customers and purposes, from whole helicopters to industrial equipment and humanitarian aid. On 25 January 2022, Airbus announced

14445-557: The program, this sum included the aircraft themselves, the cargo loading system, and program management. In September 1992, construction work began on the first aircraft, the maiden flight of which took place in September 1994. Following a total of 335 flight hours being performed during the test program, restricted certification of the type was awarded by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in October 1995, enabling

14580-453: The project as a favoured sub-contractor, developing and manufacturing the wings for the A300, which would prove to be an important contributor to the performance of subsequent versions. Hawker Siddeley spent £35 million of its own funds, along with a further £35 million loan from the West German government, on the machine tooling to design and produce the wings. On 29 May 1969, during

14715-463: The public, it conducted its maiden flight from Toulouse–Blagnac International Airport on 28 October that year. This maiden flight, which was performed a month ahead of schedule, lasted for one hour and 25 minutes; the captain was Max Fischl and the first officer was Bernard Ziegler, son of Henri Ziegler. In 1972, unit cost was US$ 17.5M. On 5 February 1973, the second prototype performed its maiden flight. The flight test programme, which involved

14850-518: The region's leading aircraft manufacturers. European manufacturers were keen to explore prospective programmes; the proposed 260-seat wide-body HBN 100 between Hawker Siddeley, Nord Aviation , and Breguet Aviation being one such example. National governments were also keen to support such efforts amid a belief that American manufacturers could dominate the European Economic Community ; in particular, Germany had ambitions for

14985-580: The same eight-abreast cross-section, the A310 is 6.95 m (22.8 ft) shorter than the initial A300 variants, and has a smaller 219 m (2,360 sq ft) wing, down from 260 m (2,800 sq ft). The A310 introduced a two-crew glass cockpit, later adopted for the A300-600 with a common type rating . It was powered by the same GE CF6-80 or Pratt & Whitney JT9D then PW4000 turbofans. It can seat 220 passengers in two classes, or 240 in all-economy, and can fly up to 5,150 nmi (9,540 km; 5,930 mi). It has overwing exits between

15120-466: The standard A300 cockpit was relocated down below the cargo-floor level. By relocating the cockpit in this manner, loading times were halved from those typically achieved with the Super Guppy, which had needed to disconnect and reconnect such systems. Another reason for faster loading times was the adoption of a roll-on/roll-off loading system, as well as the ability to unload the aircraft in winds of up to 40 knots. The qualities and improved capabilities of

15255-557: The success of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 in the late 1950s and early 1960s, airlines began seeking larger aircraft to meet the rising global demand for air travel. Engineers were faced with many challenges as airlines demanded more passenger seats per aircraft, longer ranges and lower operating costs. Early jet aircraft such as the 707 and DC-8 seated passengers along either side of a single aisle, with no more than six seats per row. Larger aircraft would have to be longer, higher ( double-deck aircraft ), or wider in order to accommodate

15390-470: The success of the early wide-body aircraft, several subsequent designs came to market over the next two decades, including the Boeing 767 and 777 , the Airbus A330 and Airbus A340 , and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 . In the "jumbo" category, the capacity of the Boeing 747 was not surpassed until October 2007, when the Airbus A380 entered commercial service with the nickname "Superjumbo". Both

15525-425: The two main front and rear door pairs. In April 1983, the aircraft entered revenue service with Swissair and competed with the Boeing 767–200 , introduced six months before. Its longer range and ETOPS regulations allowed it to be operated on transatlantic flights . Until the last delivery in June 1998, 255 aircraft were produced, as it was succeeded by the larger Airbus A330-200. It has cargo aircraft versions, and

15660-434: The type, flying from Paris to London, for Air France. Immediately after the launch, sales of the A300 were weak for some years, with most orders going to airlines that had an obligation to favor the domestically made product – notably Air France and Lufthansa, the first two airlines to place orders for the type. Following the appointment of Bernard Lathière as Henri Ziegler's replacement, an aggressive sales approach

15795-547: The typical passenger count up to 281, with capacity for 20 LD3 containers. Two prototypes were built and the variant made its maiden flight on 28 June 1973, became certified on 15 March 1974 and entered service with Air France on 23 May 1974. For the A300B2-200, originally designated as the A300B2K, Krueger flaps were introduced at the leading-edge root, the slat angles were reduced from 20 degrees to 16 degrees, and other lift related changes were made in order to introduce

15930-403: The upper part of the fuselage forms an enormous horseshoe-shaped structure 7.7 m (25 ft) in diameter. In comparison with the Super Guppy, the payload was more than doubled and the volume increased by more than 30% The General Electric CF6-80C2 turbofan engines used are slightly uprated from those used on the standard A300 as well. The vertical stabilizer uses a modified A340 fin with

16065-440: Was Boeing. In June 1997, a world record was set for the most voluminous payload to be carried by an aircraft when a Beluga was used to transport a chemical tank for a merchant vessel from Clermont-Ferrand to Le Havre , France. In February 2003, a single Beluga performed the farthest distance charter flight ever, having flown for 25 hours (not including refuelling stops) to transport two complete NHI NH90 helicopters along with

16200-449: Was adopted. Indian Airlines was the world's first domestic airline to purchase the A300, ordering three aircraft with three options. However, between December 1975 and May 1977, there were no sales for the type. During this period a number of "whitetail" A300s – completed but unsold aircraft – were completed and stored at Toulouse, and production fell to half an aircraft per month amid calls to pause production completely. During

16335-546: Was also examined; but sales were considered 'unlikely' to take place by the late 1990s. Its unit cost is €183 million. In November 2014, Airbus announced that it was proceeding with the development of a larger replacement based on the Airbus A330-200, planning to replace the BelugaST fleet entirely by 2025. The BelugaXL entered service in 2020. Airbus previously considered the A330-300 and A340-500, but each required too much of

16470-452: Was also required to have the prospective type take over duties from the Super Guppy fleet, scheduled to be withdrawn in the mid-1990s. Several different types of aircraft were examined for potential use, including the Antonov An-124 , Antonov An-225 , Ilyushin Il-86 , Boeing 747 , Boeing 767 , Lockheed C-5 Galaxy , and McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III ; the use of any existing aircraft

16605-415: Was appointed as the technical director of what would become the A300 programme, while Henri Ziegler , chief operating office of Sud Aviation, was appointed as the general manager of the organisation and German politician Franz Josef Strauss became the chairman of the supervisory board. Béteille drew up an initial work share plan for the project, under which French firms would produce the aircraft's cockpit,

16740-604: Was certified on 26 April 1979. The A300-600, officially designated as the A300B4-600, was slightly longer than the A300B2 and A300B4 variants and had an increased interior space from using a similar rear fuselage to the Airbus A310 , this allowed it to have two additional rows of seats. It was initially powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4H1 engines, but was later fitted with General Electric CF6-80C2 engines, with Pratt & Whitney PW4156 or PW4158 engines being introduced in 1986. Other changes include an improved wing featuring

16875-512: Was decided to stretch the fuselage to create a new variant, designated as the A300B2, which would be offered alongside the original 250-seat A300B, henceforth referred to as the A300B1. On 3 September 1970, Air France signed a letter of intent for six A300s, marking the first order to be won for the new airliner. In the aftermath of the Paris Air Show agreement, it was decided that, in order to provide effective management of responsibilities,

17010-403: Was eventually ruled out due to a lack of internal space for the desired components; the use of a piggyback solution was also dismissed as impractical. Boeing made an offer to convert several Boeing 767s for the requirement, but this was viewed as less advantageous than purpose-built aircraft using Airbus' existing twin-engined Airbus A300-600R . In August 1991, Aérospatiale and DASA , two of

17145-461: Was initially headquartered in Paris , which is where design, development, flight testing, sales, marketing, and customer support activities were centred; the headquarters was relocated to Toulouse in January 1974. The final assembly line for the A300 was located adjacent to Toulouse Blagnac International Airport . The manufacturing process necessitated transporting each aircraft section being produced by

17280-530: Was later renamed the A300B. Perhaps the most significant change of the A300B was that it would not require new engines to be developed, being of a suitable size to be powered by Rolls-Royce's RB211, or alternatively the American Pratt & Whitney JT9D and General Electric CF6 powerplants; this switch was recognized as considerably reducing the project's development costs. To attract potential customers in

17415-450: Was loaded into a Beluga. Data from Airbus, Airbus: Beluga General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Wide-body aircraft By comparison, a typical narrow-body aircraft has a diameter of 3 to 4 m (10 to 13 ft), with a single aisle, and seats between two and six people abreast. Wide-body aircraft were originally designed for

17550-398: Was made for greater cooperation between European nations in the field of aviation technology, and "for the joint development and production of an airbus". The word airbus at this point was a generic aviation term for a larger commercial aircraft, and was considered acceptable in multiple languages, including French . Shortly after the July 1967 meeting, French engineer Roger Béteille

17685-598: Was opened in Toulouse in 2019, receiving 85–100 flights per week, as the five A300-600STs are operated 7,600 hours a year together. By enclosing the forward section, including the open large cargo door, a faster one hour and 20 minutes turnaround , down from two hours and 30 minutes, could be achieved, along with reduced weather-related restrictions. In addition to its primary supply duties to Airbus' production facilities, Belugas have often performed charter flights for various purposes. In 1997, ATI claimed that it had to reject eight out of ten requests for commercial Beluga flights,

17820-458: Was performed by Aérospatiale and DASA while subcontractors were selected to complete the 15 separate work packages; amongst these subcontractors, CASA was selected to produce the upper fuselage, Dornier provided the hydraulic systems, and Sogerma performed the final assembly work. The A300-600ST was not a like-for-like replacement, being larger, faster, and more efficient than the preceding Super Guppies. Airbus elected to invest $ 1 billion into

17955-483: Was retired and its outsize cargo mission from that point onwards being exclusively performed by the new A300-600ST fleet. In 1997, the second year of Beluga operations, the fleet accumulated in excess of 2,500 flight hours across more than 1,400 flights. By 2012, the fleet was performing roughly 5,000 flight hours per year and further increases were being publicly anticipated by Airbus. Various infrastructure upgrades have been made at multiple locations to better accommodate

18090-458: Was shortly followed by an order from Pan Am . From then on, the A300 family sold well, eventually reaching a total of 561 delivered aircraft. In December 1977, Aerocondor Colombia became the first Airbus operator in Latin America , leasing one Airbus A300B4-2C, named Ciudad de Barranquilla . During the late 1970s, Airbus adopted a so-called ' Silk Road ' strategy, targeting airlines in

18225-462: Was too large to fit into a Boeing 747. It was transported in the vertical position inside a special pressurized container provided with isothermal protection and an anti-vibration device. In 2004, a Beluga delivered relief supplies to the Indian Ocean region following widespread devastation of coastal areas by a major tsunami . In 2005, the type transported humanitarian aid and medical supplies from

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