Whale of a plane is all smiles

It’s a whale of a plane so it’s only fitting it should be painted to look like one. The plane only a mother could love, the  BelugaXL,  rolled out of the paint shop last week sporting a cheerful smile thanks to a vote by 20,000 Airbus employees. Forty percent of those voting opted for the smiley Beluga whale livery over five other options. The plane will now undertake ground tests before first flight planned this summer. Airbus has been ungainly planes to transport aircraft components since the 1970s when it began operating a modified Boeing Stratocruiser from the 1940s known as the Super Guppy. It added two more Super Guppies - so named for their resemblance to a pregnant guppy - to its initial fleet of two in the 1980s.

The first Beluga was based on the A300 and initially flew in 1994. The A300-600ST had a maximum payload of 47 tonnes and a  freight compartment that was 7.31m (24 ft) in diameter and 37.7 m (124 ft) long. Airbus built five of the planes, which allowed it to cut production transport times and have now provided up to 20 years of reliable service.

It is operated by a three-member crew comprising two pilots and a loadmaster and has been used to transport loads as diverse as satellites and paintings The decision to build a bigger, better Beluga, known as the  BelugaXL,  was taken in November, 2014, to address the transport and ramp-up capacity requirements for Airbus beyond 2019. The new oversize air transporters are based on the A330-200 Freighter, with a large re-use of existing components and equipment. The first of five BelugaXLs will fly this summer and enter into service in 2019. READ: A330neo to strut its stuff on the global stage The BelugaXL has 30 percent more capacity than the existing plane and will be able to carry two A350 XWB wings instead of one. New elements include a lowered cockpit as well as new cargo bay structure, rear and tail section. Watch Emirates super-jumbo creates a snowy blast.