TRAVELAirbus' strange-looking Beluga aircraft turns 20The Airbus Beluga, also known as the A300-600ST Super Transporter, was developed to carry complete sections of Airbus aircraft from different production sites around Europe to the final assembly lines in Toulouse and Hamburg.AirbusAirbus operates a fleet of five Beluga aircraft, which together perform more than sixty flights each week to transport components for the company's jetliners between 11 sites in Europe.AirbusAirbus' Beluga aircraft performs with the French Air Force's "Patrouille de France" aerobatic demonstration team on May 30, 2014.AirbusAirbusThe first of six new loading hangars dedicated to the Beluga carriers opened May 2014 in Hamburg, Germany.AirbusSeptember 16, 2013: Beluga Airbus 300-600ST Supertransporter Approaching Airbus Plant Finkenwerder'Getty ImagesBROUGHTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 07: An Airbus A300 Beluga aircraft is loaded with wings at the Airbus SAS wing assembly factory on November 7, 2013 in Broughton, United Kingdom. The Airbus wing plant assembles the wings for all Airbus civil aircraft, including the new A350 XWB. The facility produces over 1,000 wings a year and employs more than 6,000 people. Completed wings are transported by the purpose built Beluga aircraft for final assembly in Toulouse or Hamburg. The giant A380 wings are transported by road and then by river craft to Mostyn harbour, where they are loaded onto a custom-built roll-on, roll-off ferry for the trip to France. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 187470391 ORIG FILE ID: 187631559Christopher Furlong Getty ImagesBROUGHTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 07: An Airbus A300 Beluga aircraft is loaded with wings at the Airbus SAS wing assembly factory on November 7, 2013 in Broughton, United Kingdom. The Airbus wing plant assembles the wings for all Airbus civil aircraft, including the new A350 XWB. The facility produces over 1,000 wings a year and employs more than 6,000 people. Completed wings are transported by the purpose built Beluga aircraft for final assembly in Toulouse or Hamburg. The giant A380 wings are transported by road and then by river craft to Mostyn harbour, where they are loaded onto a custom-built roll-on, roll-off ferry for the trip to France. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 187470391 ORIG FILE ID: 187631545Christopher Furlong, Getty ImagesBROUGHTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 07: An Airbus A300 Beluga aircraft is loaded with wings at the Airbus SAS wing assembly factory on November 7, 2013 in Broughton, United Kingdom. The Airbus wing plant assembles the wings for all Airbus civil aircraft, including the new A350 XWB. The facility produces over 1,000 wings a year and employs more than 6,000 people. Completed wings are transported by the purpose built Beluga aircraft for final assembly in Toulouse or Hamburg. The giant A380 wings are transported by road and then by river craft to Mostyn harbour, where they are loaded onto a custom-built roll-on, roll-off ferry for the trip to France. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 187470391 ORIG FILE ID: 187631568Christopher Furlong Getty ImagesBirds fly past an Airbus A300 Beluga aircraft, loaded with wings, as it takes off from the Airbus SAS wing assembly factory on November 7, 2013, in Broughton, England. The Airbus wing plant assembles the wings for all Airbus civil aircraft, including the new A350 XWB. The facility produces over 1,000 wings a year and employs more than 6,000 people. Completed wings are transported by the purpose built Beluga aircraft for final assembly in Toulouse or Hamburg. The giant A380 wings are transported by road and then by river craft to Mostyn harbour, where they are loaded onto a custom-built roll-on, roll-off ferry for the trip to France. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 187470391 ORIG FILE ID: 187631528Christopher Furlong, Getty ImagesBROUGHTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 07: An Airbus A300 Beluga aircraft, loaded with wings, takes off from the Airbus SAS wing assembly factory on November 7, 2013 in Broughton, United Kingdom. The Airbus wing plant assembles the wings for all Airbus civil aircraft, including the new A350 XWB. The facility produces over 1,000 wings a year and employs more than 6,000 people. Completed wings are transported by the purpose built Beluga aircraft for final assembly in Toulouse or Hamburg. The giant A380 wings are transported by road and then by river craft to Mostyn harbour, where they are loaded onto a custom-built roll-on, roll-off ferry for the trip to France. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 187470391 ORIG FILE ID: 187631566Christopher Furlong Getty ImagesBROUGHTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 07: An Airbus A300 Beluga aircraft, loaded with wings, as it takes off from the Airbus SAS wing assembly factory on November 7, 2013 in Broughton, United Kingdom. The Airbus wing plant assembles the wings for all Airbus civil aircraft, including the new A350 XWB. The facility produces over 1,000 wings a year and employs more than 6,000 people. Completed wings are transported by the purpose built Beluga aircraft for final assembly in Toulouse or Hamburg. The giant A380 wings are transported by road and then by river craft to Mostyn harbour, where they are loaded onto a custom-built roll-on, roll-off ferry for the trip to France. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 187470391 ORIG FILE ID: 187631571Christopher Furlong Getty ImagesBROUGHTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 07: An Airbus A300 Beluga aircraft, loaded with wings, as it takes off from the Airbus SAS wing assembly factory on November 7, 2013 in Broughton, United Kingdom. The Airbus wing plant assembles the wings for all Airbus civil aircraft, including the new A350 XWB. The facility produces over 1,000 wings a year and employs more than 6,000 people. Completed wings are transported by the purpose built Beluga aircraft for final assembly in Toulouse or Hamburg. The giant A380 wings are transported by road and then by river craft to Mostyn harbour, where they are loaded onto a custom-built roll-on, roll-off ferry for the trip to France. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 187470391 ORIG FILE ID: 187631543Christopher Furlong, Getty ImagesBROUGHTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 07: An exterior view of the Airbus SAS wing assembly plant on November 7, 2013 in Broughton, United Kingdom. The Airbus wing plant assembles the wings for all Airbus civil aircraft, including the new A350 XWB. The facility produces over 1,000 wings a year and employs more than 6,000 people. Completed wings are transported by the purpose built Beluga aircraft for final assembly in Toulouse or Hamburg. The giant A380 wings are transported by road and then by river craft to Mostyn harbour, where they are loaded onto a custom-built roll-on, roll-off ferry for the trip to France. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 187470391 ORIG FILE ID: 187631567Christopher Furlong, Getty ImagesThe Airbus Super Transporter at the Berlin Air Show on Sept. 14, 2012.Getty ImagesThe cockpit of an Airbus A400M military transport airplane is unloaded from an Airbus A300-600 ST "Beluga" at the airport in the eastern German city of Dresden on January 5, 2010.Norbert Millauer, AFP/Getty ImagesA Beluga Super Transporter, used to transport large aircraft parts between the EADS and Airbus Factories in different European countries, leaves the Airbus plant at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport in Germany, with another Beluga in the background.Getty ImagesTwo cockpit elements are unloaded from an Airbus Beluga at the Airbus plant at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport in Germany.Getty ImagesTwo Airbus A300-600ST Super Transporters sit at the main Airbus plant in Toulouse, France, on April 29, 2010.Remy Gabalda, AFP/Getty ImagesA Nighthawk F117 A and an Airbus Beluga cargo plane sit next to each other at the International Aerospace Exhibition at Berlin-Schoenefeld Airport on June 6, 2000.Jockel Finck, APA man walks by an Airbus Beluga at the International Aerospace Exhibition at Berlin-Schoenefeld Airport on June 5, 2000.Sven Kaestner, APAnn Airbus Beluga cargo plane performs at the International Aerospace Exhibition at Berlin Schonefeld Airport on June 8, 2000.Sven Kaestner, APVisitors at the International Aerospace Exhibition walk past the Airbus Beluga on May 18, 1998.Jan Bauer, APA jetfighter flies over the Airbus Beluga at the ILA Berlin Air Show on May 12, 1996.Jan Bauer, APThe Airbus Beluga performs a demonstration flight during the Paris Air Show on June 12, 1995.Frederick Florin, AFPThe Airbus Beluga makes its maiden flight over Toulouse, France, on Sept.13, 1994.Jean-Pierre Muller, APThe Airbus Beluga rolls out of the hanger on June 23, 1994, in Toulouse, France.Jean-Pierre Muller, AFPFeatured Weekly Ad