Kolkata Airport Welcoms Biggest Airbus Beluga Aircraft With Water Salute

Kolkata Airport has for the first time welcomed the biggest Airbus Beluga series aircraft - Beluga XL, an official said on Wednesday.

Beluga XL is the upgraded and bigger version of Beluga ST.

The overall length of the Beluga XL aircraft is 207 ft, its height is 62 ft and its wing span is 197 ft and 10 inches, according to the Airbus website.

"The BelugaXL performed its maiden flight in 2018, and received the type certification in November 2019 from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) airworthiness authority. This paved the way for the first BelugaXL's service entry in January 2020", the website said.

Earlier the NSCBI airport in Kolkata had accommodated its ST series aircraft but it was for the first time on Tuesday night that Kolkata airport accommodated the XL series aircraft, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson in Kolkata said in a statement on Wednesday.

The aircraft landed here on Tuesday at 10.43 pm. It arrived at the Kolkata airport from Bahrain International Airport. It was received with a water salute, the spokesperson said.

"For the first time, Kolkata's NSCBI Airport welcomed the Airbus Beluga XL, the largest in its series, carrying essential aircraft components. The flight stopped in Kolkata for crew rest, FDTL and refuelling, as it's the only airport in Eastern India equipped to handle this aircraft," the Kolkata airport posted on X.

The aircraft originated its flight from Toulouse (LFBO/TLS) Airbus factory, and is transporting some equipment and parts to another unit based in Tianjin (ZBTJ), China, the spokesperson said.

The flight has arrived at Kolkata for crew rest, crew flight duty time limitations (FDTL) and fuel stop as Kolkata is the only suitable airport in eastern India to accommodate this type of aircraft.

It has three pilots and 1 engineer.

The Beluga XL (Airbus A330-743L) is one of the large transport aircraft designed by Airbus to carry oversized cargo, primarily aircraft components such as wings and fuselages.

The aircraft will be refuelled on Wednesday evening and the expected time of its departure is 5.50 pm. The huge aircraft is currently parked on J1 bay at Kolkata airport. 

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