Airbus BelugaXL (A330-743L)
The Smiling Whale
“It carries two A350 wings at once — and wears a grin doing it.”
Airbus · cargo
The BelugaXL is the original Beluga's bigger replacement, built on the A330 with 30% more room — enough to swallow two A350 wings instead of one. The painted beluga face on the nose, eyes and smile included, was chosen by a vote of Airbus employees. Six fly the parts shuttle between Airbus plants across Europe.
Airbus let its employees vote on the BelugaXL's livery — the smiling whale face won, and every aircraft in the fleet wears it.
Look for the painted whale face: eyes beside the cockpit, a grin along the nose. Bigger and longer than the original Beluga, and the only whale in the sky that smiles back.
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Smiling Whale from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
