By Aviation Editor - Doug Maclean
Prestwick has been used to handling aircraft of all shapes and sizes over the years. From the sleek supersonic Concorde to the recent Voyager tankers no two days are ever the same for those who are interested in the airport and the huge aerospace companies based around Prestwick.
Few shapes are so distinctive as today’s surprise visitor. Fog at airports in the north of England meant that the Airbus’ “Beluga” outsize transporter made a rare diversion visit to Ayrshire. The aircraft is one of only 6 Beluga type aircraft in existence. They are specially constructed from the Airbus A330 with an extra-large fuselage added. As word got out of the Beluga arriving at Prestwick several hundred people gathered to see this rather lovely aeroplane.
The aircraft is called the "Beluga" because its appearance — with a large, rounded cargo hold and a forward-positioned cockpit — resembles the Beluga whale, known for its bulbous head and wide body.
It normally flies between the Airbus factory at Broughton, near Chester and Toulouse in southern France. Multiple flights take place each week carrying two huge wings for Airbus A350 jet production.
The wings are built at Broughton, and during that manufacturing, large sections of “leading edge”, made at Prestwick Aerosystems, are incorporated into the highly efficient wing. Those leading-edge parts are normally sent from Prestwick to Hawarden by road.
The six Beluga aircraft are immensely valuable to Airbus as they carry not only wings but aircraft fuselage sections and even two Airbus helicopters in one flight. They are constantly in the air between Airbus manufacturing sites.
Airbus is accelerating its global industrial strategy, investing £150 million into converting its former A380 wing production facility into an A321 line in Broughton, UK. Set to be completed by the end of the year, this latest investment ensures Airbus’ ‘Home of Wings’ is well prepared to meet future aircraft production targets.
Prestwick Aerosystems also manufactures leading edges for the Airbus A320 family of aircraft. Just yesterday, Jerome Blandin, Head of Airbus Wing spoke about the investment in Broughton. “This investment is important for jobs, important for the region and important for our global ramp up towards rate 75 (aircraft per month).”
That is good news for every Airbus site, and we can also expect Prestwick will also be raising its production output to satisfy the worldwide backlog of around 7,500 A320 family of aircraft. It is estimated that an Airbus A320 family aircraft takes off or lands somewhere in the world every two seconds. Maybe one day the Beluga will become a regular visitor to Prestwick carrying key parts of the wings for the world’s airlines.
Natan Lelonkiewicz is a regular at Prestwick Airport. Our thanks to Natan who was on hand today to take these excellent pictures of the rare Beluga at Prestwick.