One of Airbus’ BelugaST aircraft arrived in the U.K. Thursday, concluding its final operational flight, with plans to repurpose the aircraft as a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education facility at Airbus’ Broughton site in North Wales. The aircraft landed at around 11 a.m. GMT after arriving from Bordeaux. Airbus’ BelugaST fleet, introduced in the mid-1990s, was primarily used to move large aircraft components, including wings manufactured in the UK, between Airbus facilities across Europe.
Gareth Davies, vice president and head of the Airbus Broughton site, said the aircraft has long played a role in the site’s operations.
“This particular Beluga first took flight 25 years ago, and since then has played a crucial part in transporting our wings from Broughton to Airbus’ mainland European sites,” Davies said.
He added that the aircraft will now be used to support education outreach, noting that “the focus will be to promote STEM in a fun and interactive way to inspire young people to consider a career in science, technology, engineering and maths.”
According to Airbus, the STEM activities will be developed in coordination with local schools to align with the UK national curriculum.
The aircraft was flown on its final mission by BelugaST pilot Didier Puxeddu, who said the flight carried particular significance.
“Flying the Beluga has always been a unique privilege, and bringing the ST5 home to Broughton for the last time was no different,” Puxeddu said.
Airbus announced the retirement of the BelugaST fleet in 2025, with the larger BelugaXL gradually taking over all transport duties. The company said the BelugaXL fleet is expected to become the sole transporter of Airbus components from mid-2027, serving 11 sites across Europe.
