Manufacturer Airbus, says its Beluga cargo aircraft, also known as A300-600ST Super Transporter and shown here on a demonstration flight, is the "most voluminous cargo holds of any civil or military aircraft flying today".

The Beluga was developed to carry complete sections of Airbus aircraft from different production sites around Europe to the final assembly lines in Toulouse or Hamburg.

Its main-deck cargo volume is greater than the C5 Galaxy, the An-124 or the C-17 airlifters.

It can be used to transport oversized cargo including carrying three ancient Egyptian statues weighing 5.5 tonnes each and other artifacts from Egypt to Europe last year for an Egyptian Sunken Treasures exhibition.

It was also used to deliver the SPOT (Satellite Probatoire pour l'Observation de la Terre) and Helios civil and military Earth observation spacecraft to the Spaceport in French Guiana from France.

 

Source: FlightGlobal.com