Quote:
Originally Posted by P38 in workshop
If it performs well, it will suddenly and mysteriously become beautiful.
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It is, and it does - they've been flying them in service since 1996, moving Airbus components such as wings, fuselage sections, engines etc between the various Airbus sites across Europe to the final assembly factories in Toulouse, Hamburg or Seville. There's also now an XL variant.
Aside from that, they're also used to transport satellites, aid loads, and other oversize cargos.
Before they built the first one, they used the elderly Boeing Stratocruiser conversions called the Super Guppy. I used to watch these fly over my house on departure from Manchester Airport and they never ceased to amaze me!