Airbus Beluga Transport gains approval for US flights
31 / 01 / 2024
Photo: Airbus
Airbus Beluga Transport (AIBT) has been granted permission to conduct flights between Europe and the US.
The carrier gained its AOC in November last year and has already conducted flights in the European Union (EU) using its fleet of BelugaST freighters.
It applied for a Foreign Air Carrier permit from the US Department of Transportation in December and was granted permission to conduct flights on January 10.
The carrier said that it hoped to conduct flights to the US starting in February.
The BelugaSTs were until 2021 used to carry aircraft parts for Airbus but were surplus to requirements following the delivery of six newer BelugaXL aircraft.
Airbus then took the decision to utilise the BelugaSTs for commercial operations and set about creating AIBT.
Currently, the fleet includes three BelugaSTs, with the fourth one due for induction this year and a fifth waiting in the wings.
The last few months have seen the airline concentrate on developing its facilities.
In a recent update, AIBT managing director Benoît Lemonnier said: “We of course developed our facilities which included the new main office headquarters, close to Blagnac airport.
“We also secured our aircraft operational base at Francazal airport near to Toulouse, with two dedicated parking spots.
“From there 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.”
AIBT commenced short flights on the existing Airbus network in November, to destinations including Saint Nazaire, Hamburg, Bremen and Seville.
The company has mainly delivered payloads for Airbus Helicopters and Airbus Defence and Space so far but this year is aiming to expand its customer base.
