An Airbus Beluga, the world's largest cargo plane, landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai on Thursday.
The A300-600ST Super Transporter, which is shaped and named after the Beluga whale, had first landed at the Mumbai airport in November last year.
According to the Airbus website, these transport planes have been operating for the company's own industrial airlift needs since the mid-1990s, and are progressively being replaced by a fleet of six new-generation BelugaXL versions.
A video of the Beluga's second landing in Mumbai surfaced on social media on March 23.
Here are 5 things you need to know about Airbus Beluga
The aircraft is 56.15 meters in length and 17.25 meters in height and its wing span is 44.24 meters.
It offers customers with large cargo transport solutions for a variety of sectors, including space, energy, military, aeronautics, maritime and humanitarian sectors.
Belugas are capable of handling outsized cargo of up to 7.1m in width and 6.7m in height and possess “the world's largest interior cross-section of any transport aircraft".
Beluga ST has a semi-automated main deck cargo loading system which ensures easy and efficient handling of payloads.
These transport planes have been operating for the company's own industrial airlift needs since the mid-1990s, and are progressively being replaced by a fleet of six new-generation BelugaXL versions.
