page_title: Airbus A330
section_title: Beluga XL (A330-743L)
hierarchical_section_title: Airbus A330 / Variants / Beluga XL (A330-743L)
caption_attribution_description: English: Maiden flight of the "Beluga XL" on 2018, July 19th at around 10:31am Français&#160;: Premier vol du "Beluga XL", le 19 juillet 2018 vers 10:31.
context_page_description: The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner made by Airbus.
  In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 quadjet.
  In June 1987, Airbus launched both designs with their first orders.
  The A330-300, the first variant, took its maiden flight in November 1992 and entered service with Air Inter in January 1994.
  The slightly shorter A330-200 variant followed in 1998.
  In 2014, Airbus launched the A330neo, re-engined with Trent 7000 turbofans, which entered service in November 2018.
  The A330 shares its airframe with the early A340 variants, having two engines instead of four, two main landing gear legs instead of three, lower weights and slightly different lengths.
  Both airliners have fly-by-wire controls, which was first introduced on the A320, as well as a similar glass cockpit.
  The A330 was Airbus's first airliner to offer a choice of three engines: the General Electric CF6, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, or the Rolls-Royce Trent 700.
  The A330-300 has a range of 11,750 km or 6,350 nmi with 277 passengers, while the shorter A330-200 can cover 13,450 km or 7,250 nmi with 247 passengers.
context_section_description: Airbus started design of a replacement aircraft for the Beluga in November 2014. The Beluga XL is based on the Airbus A330, and has 30% more space than its predecessor. Like its predecessor, the Airbus Beluga, the Beluga XL features an extension on its fuselage top, and can accommodate two A350 wings instead of one. The new aircraft rolled out of the assembly line on 4 January 2018, and made its maiden flight on 19 July 2018. It commenced operations between different Airbus factories in January 2020.
caption: "Beluga XL" A330-743L during its maiden flight
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