The brand new BelugaXL was unveiled in Toulouse, France, earlier this week with a very special paint.Its livery includes a whale-style nose cone, sparkling blue eyes and a smiling mouth.
The smiling whale design was chosen by Airbus staff following a poll in which 20,000 employees were given six options and asked to choose their favorite.
The airplanes currently carry parts for all of Airbus’ planes from manufacturing sites across Europe to the final assembly facilities in either Toulouse, Hamburg or Tianjin.
The original planes have been in service since 1994, however Airbus launched a program to build a new version with similar modifications and dimensions in 2014.
The original Beluga can carry the wings of an A340 airliner but isn’t large enough to transport many A380 super jumbo parts.
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