Beluga tracker: every Airbus Beluga flying right now
Airbus builds its airliners in pieces across Europe, and the Belugas fly those pieces between factories. Their bulging upper decks swallow whole wings and fuselage sections, and the BelugaXL even wears a painted smile.
| Flight | Registration | Operator | Type | Altitude | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading… | |||||
Airbus Beluga at a glance
- Beluga ST (A300-600ST)
- First flew September 13, 1994; five built
- BelugaXL (A330-743L)
- First flew July 19, 2018; six built; in service since January 2020
- Callsign
- BGA, Airbus Transport International
- Typical routes
- Toulouse, Hamburg, Broughton, Bremen, Saint-Nazaire and Spain
What the Belugas carry
Airbus wings are built in Broughton in Wales, fuselage sections in Hamburg and Saint-Nazaire, and tail parts in Spain and Germany. Airbus's European final assembly lines are in Toulouse and Hamburg, so a steady stream of parts has to cross Europe. Roads and ships are too slow for some of those loads, which is why Airbus flies them.
The original Beluga ST is based on the A300-600. Its successor, the BelugaXL, is based on the A330-200 Freighter and can carry two A350 wings at once, where the older Beluga carried one.
When to look
Belugas fly short hops between factory airports, mostly on weekdays, so it is normal for none to be airborne at night or over a weekend. When one is flying, it is almost always over France, Germany, Spain or the UK. With the BelugaXL fleet complete, Airbus moved the older Beluga STs to a separate unit, Airbus Beluga Transport, which offers them for outside charters.
Questions
How do I track a Beluga flight?
Watch this page: it lists every Beluga ST and BelugaXL that receivers can hear, refreshed every 30 seconds. Beluga flights use the callsign prefix BGA.
What is the difference between the Beluga and the BelugaXL?
The original Beluga ST is built on the A300-600. The larger BelugaXL is built on the A330-200 Freighter, entered service in 2020, and can carry two A350 wings instead of one.
Why isn't an aircraft I know is flying on the map?
Positions come from volunteer ADS-B receivers, which only hear aircraft within roughly 200 nautical miles. Over oceans, deserts and parts of Africa and Asia there are few receivers, so an aircraft can vanish mid-flight and reappear near land. Military and some government aircraft also switch their transponders' public data off.
More live trackers
Positions from the adsb.lol volunteer ADS-B network (ODbL). Aircraft are shown only while a receiver can hear them.