Airbus Beluga Transport earns its Air Operator Certificate

Just under two years ago, in January 2022, Airbus launched its outsized air-cargo service, Airbus Beluga Transport (AiBT), operated by Airbus Transport International (ATI). However, the vision was always to create a dedicated airline with its own Air Operator Certificate (AOC).

“For our final dossier we had been compiling many documents during the first half of this year, encompassing Flight Safety, Flight Operations, Ground Operations, Technical Operations and Crew Training,” recalls Benoît Lemonnier, managing director of AiBT.

“We submitted it at the end of June 2023 following which we answered questions and fine-tuned over the summer. Of course, we didn’t start from scratch, since we had built on the documentation and processes of ATI.”

Once the decisive audit by the authorities was passed successfully on the 26th of September, there remained one important ‘box to tick’ – the “Continuous Airworthiness and Maintenance Organisation” certificate (CAMO), which came at the beginning of November. With all these approvals successfully achieved, AiBT could at last really call itself an ‘airline’ and operate under its own AOC.

Operating as an autonomous freight airline

“We of course developed our facilities which included the new main office headquarters, close to Blagnac airport,” says Benoît. “We also secured our aircraft operational base at Francazal airport near to Toulouse, with two dedicated parking spots. From there our ground crews have been developing the capacity and capabilities to prepare the Beluga and its missions, especially in terms of loading and unloading the transport pallets as well as managing and maintaining the aircraft.”

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The other major pillar of the fledgling operation was the official transfer of the BelugaSTs from ATI’s fleet register to AiBT’s (on lease from Airbus). Currently AiBT’s fleet includes three aircraft, with the fourth one due for induction in 2024.

“In short, we now have the aircraft, we have the people and we have the facilities – and the certificate. So now we can operate missions as our own airline!” enthuses Benoît.

Ramping-up operational experience

Initially, AiBT is starting with flights on the existing Airbus network.

“It’s quite important that we don’t start with long complex worldwide flights, but rather that our flying crews and ground teams gain experience with short flights contracted by ATI. These flights commenced in November for routes to Saint Nazaire, Hamburg, Bremen, Sevilla etc. This approach allows AiBT to test its internal procedures and to train everyone, especially the new pilots, before it resumes its core business of long-haul missions,” notes Benoît.

Recruiting and training new Beluga pilots

Since the BelugaST is unique to Airbus, there is no immediate ‘ready qualified’ source of pilots on the external job market. Consequently, pilots of other types commonly operated would need to be brought in and trained-up to be type-rated on the Beluga – which takes some time.

To bridge this gap, AiBT has reached an agreement for 12 of ATI’s pilots to join AiBT as captains or first officers for up to three years. After this interim period, these pilots will return to ATI to fly the expanding fleet of brand new A330-200 BelugaXLs.

In parallel, AiBT is actively recruiting pilots from the external world – of which nine have already been inducted, contributing towards an eventual total requirement of around 36 pilots by 2026.

“We are mostly looking for pilots with some experience of flying A300s and A310s – a family which shares the same cockpit and systems as the Beluga,” notes Olivier. “However, there’s nevertheless quite a long training path to be followed to become a first officer on BelugaST, then to be promoted to captain. And this is why we need this collaboration with the Airbus ex-ATI pilots who will accompany our development for up to three years.”

AiBT is therefore fortunate to have forged a close relationship with the Airbus Training Center in Toulouse – aimed at being its official EASA-designated “Approved Training Organisation” – where AiBT pilots are able to use the A300/A310 full-flight simulator for type rating and for recurrent training and checks.

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