Airbus to build five new 'white whales' to carry A350 components

Airbus Group NV will build five brand-new Beluga transport planes to ferry parts of its latest A350 wide-body jet between factories as production ramps up.

The first of the aircraft, named for their resemblance to the dome-headed, hunch-backed white whales of the Arctic, will enter service in mid-2019, allowing the existing five-strong Beluga fleet to be phased out through 2025, Airbus said today.

With Airbus's plants located in France, Germany, Britain, Spain, the twin-engine Beluga helps give the Toulouse-based company control over its production processes and costs. Since the first Beluga entered service two decades ago, annual output at Airbus has quadrupled to more than 600 jetliners a year.

Since the original Beluga fleet was derived from the defunct A300-600, the successor aircraft will be based on the A330 model that's likely to remain in production until next decade following a refresh that includes more modern engines.

The Beluga's trademark low-slung cockpit, which allows the front of the plane above it to hinge open, is likely to be modified in the new design, along with the cargo-bay structure, rear-end and tail, the manufacturer said.

Before the new planes arrive, the existing Belugas will be operated for about 10,000 hours annually by 2017 in order to keep up with increased build rates, about twice their utilization rate in 2011.

While the first A350 is due for delivery to Qatar Airways this year and production will switch from two a month to three, the subsequent ramp-up will be gradual, reaching 10 a month by the end of 2018, prior to the first new Beluga arriving. Airbus has said it might seek to move beyond that rate in the future.

The Belugas visit sites such as Broughton in Wales to pick up wings and Getafe, Spain, and Hamburg, Germany, for tail parts, bringing them to southwest France for final assembly.