New Airbus plane BelugaXL sports whale's grin

A whale of a transport aircraft will be flying high later this summer sporting the grin of a Beluga whale.

The Airbus BelugaXL, a massive transport plane, made a presentation on Thursday, its nose cone making it look like a whale. Airbus employees, 20,000 of them, voted on one of six looks and the whale face that matches its name won.

After ground tests, the oversized aircraft is to make its first flight later this summer and enter service in 2019.

- AP