Airplanes

Airbus performs new ‘family flight’ with commercial planes in close proximity like they’re military jets

  • Airbus recently celebrated its annual Family Day event
  • The aircraft manufacturer showcased many planes from its roster
  • They even performed a special maneuver just like the military

Published on Oct 01, 2024 at 11:34 AM (UTC+4)
by Nalin Rawat

Last updated on Oct 03, 2024 at 5:53 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Tom Wood

Airbus recently marked its annual Family Day event by performing a ‘family flight’ formation with seven planes from its roster.

It is a unique tradition for the plane manufacturer that celebrates the company’s aircraft and its community.

Airbus marked its 21st official family flight with several of its planes performing a formation in close proximity to each other.

It was just like seeing fighter jet formations you see the military perform.

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Airbus ‘family flight’ formation

Airbus pulled off the wild stunt with the company’s A321LR and A321XLR demonstrators, an A350-900, A350-1000, and A330neo.

However, that’s not all, there were two more rare metal giants joining these common commercial airplanes.

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Airbus

Out of the seven airplanes, two of them stood out like sore thumbs.

One of them was an outsized BelugaXL freighter plane.  

Another was an ATR72 turboprop from the ATR stable based just across the road from Airbus HQ in Blagnac.

For the uninitiated, it will be quite weird to see an ATR propellor plane at an Airbus event, but the manufacturer holds a 50 percent stake in the regional airliner.

Family Day event

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Airbus

Airbus held the flight formation as part of its Family Day event in Toulouse, Southwest France.

They hold the event to host the local community at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport and also the thousands of employees who work for the company, plus their families.

Out of the aircraft present that day, the A321s were the shortest at 44.5m (146ft).

While the A350-1000 was the longest at 73.8m (242ft).

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Airbus

However, the biggest aircraft was definitely the BelugaXL.

It’s not the first time we have seen commercial planes do such stunts, but never in such a synchronized pattern.

However, there was one time when an American Airlines Airbus A321 and Boeing 737 synchronized for a parallel landing.

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Nalin started his career by working with various national newspapers in India. He has also worked as a writer/editor for many popular websites, while still pursuing his journalism and mass communication degree. Working as a digital nomad has allowed him to inform and educate through his work. When he is not writing, you can find him playing video games or travelling the mountains on his bike.