Airbus' strange-looking Beluga aircraft turns 20

Airbus 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.

Airbus' Beluga aircraft performs with the French Air Force's "Patrouille de France" aerobatic demonstration team on May 30, 2014.

The first of six new loading hangars dedicated to the Beluga carriers opened May 2014 in Hamburg, Germany.

September 16, 2013: Beluga Airbus 300-600ST Supertransporter Approaching Airbus Plant Finkenwerder'

BROUGHTON, 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: 187631559

BROUGHTON, 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: 187631545

BROUGHTON, 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: 187631568

Birds 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: 187631528

BROUGHTON, 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: 187631566

BROUGHTON, 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: 187631571

BROUGHTON, 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: 187631543

BROUGHTON, 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: 187631567

The Airbus Super Transporter at the Berlin Air Show on Sept. 14, 2012.

The 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.

A 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.

Two cockpit elements are unloaded from an Airbus Beluga at the Airbus plant at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport in Germany.

Two Airbus A300-600ST Super Transporters sit at the main Airbus plant in Toulouse, France, on April 29, 2010.

A 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.

A man walks by an Airbus Beluga at the International Aerospace Exhibition at Berlin-Schoenefeld Airport on June 5, 2000.

Ann Airbus Beluga cargo plane performs at the International Aerospace Exhibition at Berlin Schonefeld Airport on June 8, 2000.

Visitors at the International Aerospace Exhibition walk past the Airbus Beluga on May 18, 1998.

A jetfighter flies over the Airbus Beluga at the ILA Berlin Air Show on May 12, 1996.

The Airbus Beluga performs a demonstration flight during the Paris Air Show on June 12, 1995.

The Airbus Beluga makes its maiden flight over Toulouse, France, on Sept.13, 1994.