Airbus Beluga lands at London's Heathrow Airport

9 September 2024, 10:43 | Updated: 9 September 2024, 13:09

An unusually-shaped plane has landed at London's Heathrow Airport to deliver spare parts.

The Airbus Beluga, named after the whale the aircraft resembles, flew to the airport from Toulouse in France.

It was carrying parts for a British Airways plane that has been grounded since another plane collided with it in April.

An empty Virgin Atlantic 787 was being towed from the stand at Terminal 3 when it clipped the wingtip of the British Airways Airbus A350.

Footage of the crash shows minor damage to the planes as well as emergency services and ground crew on the runway.

No passengers were on board the plane that was being towed, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said at the time.

A spokesperson from British Airways said its plane was stationary when the collision happened.

No passengers were injured.

While the Virgin Atlantic plane returned to service the British Airways aircraft was grounded due to serious damage.

The Airbus Beluga was delivering spare parts to repair the damaged plane.

It will return to Toulouse later today, according to Flightradar24.

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The Beluga is a massive cargo aircraft designed to carry aircraft parts or large cargo.

Airbus currently operates a fleet of six Beluga planes.

(c) Sky News 2024: Airbus Beluga lands at London's Heathrow Airport