A range of Airbus aircraft have been in action as part of the planemaker’s annual family day celebrations at its plant in Toulouse, Southwest France. Set against the backdrop of a bright blue autumnal sky on the morning of September 15, 2024, several Airbus products took to the air, culminating in a flypast featuring a number of the planes flying in close formation with one another.
Appearing at the event were the company’s A321LR and A321XLR demonstrators plus an A350-900, A350-1000, A330neo and to round things off, one of its BelugaXL outsized freighter planes.
Just bringing some variety to the occasion, even an ATR72 turboprop from the ATR stable based just across the road from Airbus HQ in Blagnac joined the party, flying alongside the narrowbody A321s in a triangle formation. ATR is a partnership between Airbus and Leonardo, so the appearance of one of its aircraft is not as random as might first appear to the uninitiated.
Airbus holds its annual Family Day event to host the local community at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport and to welcome the families of the many thousands of employees who work for the company, whether that be in its commercial aircraft, space, or defense divisions.
The aircraft appearing were all in-house demonstrator aircraft used by Airbus for test flights, development programs, and promotional work such as air shows. The A321s were the shortest of the Airbus aircraft flying on the day at 44.5m (146ft), while the A350-1000 was the longest at 73.8m (242ft). The BelugaXL meanwhile boasts an overall length of 63.1m (207ft).
The event also marked the end of a busy week for the team at Airbus Transport International, the commercial division that operates the fleet of six BelugaXL freighters on behalf of the parent company.
On September 9, 2024, a member of the fleet visited London-Heathrow Airport (LHR) for the first time, bringing in parts for a stricken British Airways Airbus A350-1000 that was involved in a ground collision with a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in April 2024.
Then on September 10, 2024, another example was forced to make an emergency diversion and land in Amsterdam after its crew reported a technical issue while en route from France to Germany.
The BelugaXL (formally referred to as the A330-743L) is a large transport aircraft based on the Airbus A330-200F. The aircraft was designed and built by Airbus to transport outsized cargo such as fuselage sections and wings between manufacturing plants across Europe and its final assembly plans in Toulouse and Hamburg.