By 2013, the five original BelugaSTs could not cope with Airbus production growth, and the manufacturer evaluated the
Antonov An-124 and
An-225,
Boeing C-17 and
Dreamlifter, and
A400M, before choosing to modify one of its own aircraft. The program cost is
€1 billion for development and production.
Fleet , the BelugaXL's predecessor The original BelugaSTs were not to be withdrawn from service after introduction of the BelugaXL's in 2019; a mixed fleet was to operate for at least five years, as the increased production rate of single-aisle aircraft requires the ability to move more parts. The BelugaST fleet flew more than 8,000 hours in 2017, doubled from 2014, but the five BelugaST aircraft were only halfway through their planned service life, and another operator could potentially use them for civil or military logistic applications.
Production The aircraft's lower fuselage was assembled on the
Airbus A330 final assembly line, then moved to another facility for the year-long process of assembling the upper fuselage and the lowered nose fuselage. Final aircraft assembly started on 8 December 2016. The first large sections: one central and two lateral rear section panels, arrived on 12 April 2017 at the Toulouse Final Assembly facility (L34) from Aernnova's factory in
Berantevilla, Spain. Constructed by Airbus subsidiary
Stelia Aerospace in
Meaulte, its , nose section was delivered in May 2017. The wide, long and high, upper front
fuselage part, framing the cargo door, was delivered from Stelia Rochefort on 7 July 2017. The , long and high door was delivered by Stelia Rochefort in September 2017. In October 2017, 75% of the first BelugaXL structural assembly was complete; with systems, mechanical, and electrical integration underway before integration of the
tail elements, which had already been received. After mating the vertical fin, tail cone and horizontal stabiliser including the outboard vertical surfaces, the main freight door was to be attached from mid-November, before power-on at the end of 2017. The front cargo door was attached in December 2017. In January 2018, the second arrived in Toulouse for its transformation, in two months less after
lessons learned from the first. After fitting its
Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, it was ground
tested for months to assess its systems operation, while
bench tests in Toulouse and Hamburg, on flight simulators and in laboratories, simulated flight loads on full-scale copies of specific joints between the upper bubble and the lower fuselage, clearing the aircraft for flight, then type certification. . In March 2018, the first BelugaXL (MSN1824) was having its engines fitted, while the second (MSN1853) was 30% converted. It passed the ground vibration test in early June 2018, with
Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA) and
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) measuring its dynamic behaviour compared to
flight envelope theoretical models. The flight-test programme was expected to last 600 hours. The first flight was on 19 July 2018, from
Blagnac, Toulouse, France. The first BelugaXL to enter service was the second aircraft built, which rolled out on 19 March 2019; the first test aircraft was to be retro-fitted after certification. The second aircraft (MSN1853) commenced flight testing on 15 April, and by then, the first (MSN1824) had completed more than 140 test flights over 500 hours, the final stage before certification. . The last two BelugaXLs to be produced are expected to have 180-minute
ETOPS approval, allowing them to be used for transatlantic flights, typically to transport satellites to North American launch sites. As of February 2021, tests were being conducted to gain approval for the XL's
autoland capacity. ==Operations==