Airbus’ biggest Beluga series aircraft lands at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: The Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport, Kolkata on Wednesday shared that for the first time it accommodated the biggest Airbus Beluga series aircraft (Beluga XL) which arrived on Tuesday night at the airport from Bahrain.

According to information shared by Airports Authority of India (AAI) Eastern Region, the aircraft landed in Kolkata on October 8 at 10:43 pm from Bahrain International Airport. The aircraft originated from Toulouse Airbus Factory and was transporting some equipment to another unit based in Tianjin, China.

The flight had arrived at Kolkata for crew rest, crew flight duty time limitations and fuel stop as Kolkata is the only suitable airport in Eastern India to accommodate this type of aircraft. Crew members comprised three pilots and one engineer. The aircraft was rescheduled for refuelling at Kolkata airport on Wednesday evening before expected departure time at 5:50 pm for Tianjin Binhai International Airport China.

The aircraft is named after the Beluga Whale and appears to resemble one. Earlier Kolkata Airport had accommodated Beluga’s ST series aircraft but it was the first time it accommodated an XL series aircraft. 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. It is an upgraded version of the original Beluga ST (A300-600ST), offering increased capacity and improved performance

The Beluga XL is 63.1 meters long, with a wingspan of 60.3 meters. Its payload capacity is approximately 51 tons and its cargo hold is large enough to transport two A350

wings simultaneously.