Airbus has secured an air operator’s certificate for the new carrier established to conduct outsize freight transport using the airframer’s withdrawn A300-600ST Beluga fleet.
The manufacturer unveiled plans two years ago to set up Airbus Beluga Transport, intending the company eventually to operate as a dedicated airline.
Airbus has introduced the larger A330-700L BelugaXL to replace the five A300-600STs previously used to ship aircraft structures between its manufacturing facilities.
Three Beluga aircraft have been transferred from the register of internal logistics company Airbus Transport International, and a fourth is due this year. Airbus Beluga Transport has started services on its short-haul network covering such familiar locations as Saint Nazaire, Bremen and Hamburg, supporting A320neo-family production.
“We now have the aircraft, we have the people and we have the facilities and the certificate,” says managing director Benoit Lemonnier. “So now we can operate missions as our own airline.”
He says the flight safety, technical and operations documentation and data of Airbus Transport International supported the application process for the new AOC.
The carrier has also established a management structure and recruited some 60 personnel, among them additional pilots. It offers a new avenue for A300 and A310 cockpit crews, and the company predicts a need for 36 Beluga pilots by 2026. To bridge the training gap, it will temporarily take 12 Airbus Transport International pilots for up to three years.
Airbus Beluga Transport’s headquarters is near Toulouse Blagnac while it has set up an aircraft operating base – including two dedicated parking positions – at the city’s Francazal airport.
“Our ground crews have been developing the capacity and capabilities to prepare the Beluga and its missions, especially in terms of loading and unloading the transport pallets, as well as managing and maintaining the aircraft,” says Lemonnier.
He adds that the carrier’s expansion will be cautious, initially focused on familiar routes to ensure its crew training and procedures are robust, before embarking on “complex” long-haul operations – multi-stop services which will become its core activity – with three such flights monthly later this year.
Although the carrier has gained experience delivering payloads for Airbus’s helicopters and defence divisions, it aims to broaden its client base, and flight operations head Olivier Schneider – formerly with Air France’s regional carrier Hop – says this ramp-up is a “big challenge”.
“We’re learning ‘on-the-fly’ since this type of operation is something brand new for many of the team,” he adds. “It’s one thing to plan and undertake one long mission, but it’s quite different to perform several of them in the same week.”
He says the carrier will ultimately have a fleet of five Beluga aircraft operating flights worldwide, and it is looking to secure approval for the twinjet type to accommodate a wider range of payloads, including engines and containers.
