One of Airbus’s iconic Beluga super-transporters is set to make its final flight to Flintshire this week.
The Beluga ST, known for its distinctive whale-shaped fuselage, has played a key role in transporting large aircraft components between Airbus sites since 1995, regularly landing at the company’s facility in Broughton, Flintshire.
A spokesperson for Airbus Broughton said: "We plan to retire the BelugaST aircraft in the Airbus home countries and respective options are currently being worked through.
"For BelugaST 5, its final flight will take place on 29 January."
It is expected to arrive in Broughton at around 11am, though the timing is subject to weather conditions.
The BelugaST was developed to carry oversized parts between Airbus factories across Europe.
Its first flight was on September 13, 1994, and after 400 hours of flight testing, the first of five aircraft entered service in January 1996.
The fleet was completed in December 2000.
Over the years, the aircraft made history by setting a world record in 1997 for the largest payload ever transported by air—a chemical tank for a merchant ship.
In 1999, it was used to fly the famous Eugène Delacroix painting, Liberty Leading the People, from Paris to Tokyo.
Airbus began phasing out the BelugaST in 2021 in favour of the BelugaXL.
The BelugaXL was introduced to support A350 production, as its oversized wings and fuselage sections were too large for the older model.
Based on the A330-200, the XL offers 30 per cent more payload capacity than the ST.
The retirement of the BelugaST marks the end of nearly three decades of service.
It is not yet known what is next for the aircraft despite its final flight taking place on Thursday.
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