Aeroscopia at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport

Updated: October 2026 – In Blagnac, on the northern edge of Toulouse Airport, a huge exhibition hall stands opposite the Airbus final assembly line. Inside and in front of it are parked aircraft you otherwise only know from books: two Concordes, the second A380 ever built, the very first A320 and a Super Guppy that Airbus once used to fly its components across Europe. This is Aeroscopia.

For spotters, the museum is more than a rainy-day program. It is the meeting point for the Airbus factory tours and lies only a few minutes from the spots where test flights, deliveries and the BelugaXL can be seen. This page shows you what to expect, how to make the most of the visit photographically and how to turn it into a complete spotting day in Toulouse.

A museum in the middle of the Airbus universe

Toulouse is the capital of the European aviation industry. Airbus has its headquarters and final assembly lines here, ATR builds its turboprops next door, and Toulouse-Blagnac Airport is both a scheduled-service airport and a test flight center. It was in exactly this setting that Aeroscopia opened in January 2015. The operator is Groupe Manatour, which also organizes the tours of the Airbus plants – which is why museum and factory tour are so easy to combine.

The main buildings are impressively large: the exhibition hall is 100 meters long, 72 meters wide and 23 meters high, plus a reception building, an open area on the south apron and the north apron of about two hectares. A large share of the aircraft comes from the association Ailes Anciennes Toulouse, which has been rescuing historic aircraft in the region for decades. Further exhibits are provided by Airbus Heritage and the French Académie de l’air et de l’espace. You’ll find more about the institution itself in the profile of Aeroscopia Toulouse.

The hall: Concorde, Super Guppy and the beginnings of Airbus

The first thing that catches your eye in the hall is Concorde F-WTSB. It is one of the early French production aircraft and served as a development and test aircraft. You can climb aboard and get a feel for the cramped cabin of the supersonic airliner. Toulouse has a special meaning for Concorde fans: this is where the French prototype took off on its first flight in 1969. The whole history of the type is in the article The Concorde and on the type page for the Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde.

Right next to it, the Super Guppy looks like an inflated fish. Before there was the Beluga, Airbus used transporters like this to bring large fuselage and wing sections from the plants in Germany, the UK and Spain to Toulouse. Via a walkway you get into the cargo hold and see how much volume there is in this fuselage. The A300B4 F-WUAB from Airbus Heritage recalls the aircraft with which the Airbus success story began.

Around them stand smaller but no less exciting types: Mirage III, Lockheed F-104G, MiG-15, Vought F-8 Crusader, Saab Draken, Fouga Magister, the Aérospatiale Corvette, an early Dassault Falcon 10, helicopters such as the Gazelle and Alouette II and several light aircraft. The mix of civil and military makes the hall interesting even for spotters who are more at home at military airfields.

South apron: Concorde F-BVFC and the last Caravelle

Outside on the south apron stands the second Concorde, F-BVFC in the colors of Air France. It flew in scheduled service and came to Toulouse on its last flight in 2003, the year of retirement. For spotters it is the more photogenic of the two Concordes: open sky, distance and room for a side view.

Next to it is parked the Caravelle 12 F-BTOE in the paint scheme of Air Inter, the former French domestic airline. It is considered the last Caravelle built. If you want to read up on the history of the first French jet airliner, you’ll find it on the type page for the Sud Aviation Caravelle.

Because everything here stands outdoors, light matters. At midday the sun in southern France is harsh, and the white fuselages quickly blow out. Either come right at opening or plan the outdoor areas for the late afternoon. How to calculate the sun position precisely for a particular day is explained in the article Planning the sun position at a photo spot.

North apron: the prototype row with the A380

The north apron has been open since March 2020, and for many spotters it is the real highlight. Airbus has handed the museum several test aircraft that flew in Toulouse for years. They now stand side by side – a row you won’t see like this anywhere else in the world.

Aircraft	Registration	Special feature
Airbus A380	F-WXXL	MSN 002, test aircraft, both decks and cockpit can be walked through
Airbus A340-600	F-WWCA	first A340-600 built
Airbus A320	F-WWAI	MSN 001, the very first A320
ATR 72-600	F-WWEY	ATR test aircraft
ATR 42-300	F-WEGC	in the paint scheme of the first ATR prototype F-WEGA

In the A380 you walk across the upper and lower decks and look into the cockpit. If you want to tell the giant from the Jumbo in everyday spotting, you’ll find the distinguishing features in the article A380 and Boeing 747.

Registrations with the prefix F-W are typical of Toulouse: Airbus uses them for test and factory aircraft before an aircraft gets its final registration. Why that is and how to read such test registrations is explained in the article Manufacturer test registrations.

The Airbus factory tour from Aeroscopia

The tours of the Airbus plants start right at the museum. Two variants are aimed at adults: on the A321 tour you look from a panoramic point at the Jean-Luc Lagardère final assembly line, where the A321neo is assembled today. On the A350 tour you ride by bus across the grounds of about 700 hectares and stop at the final assembly of the A350. Both take about 90 minutes, and there is also a tour specifically for kids.

To make sure nothing goes wrong, note a few fixed rules:

• Booking: at least two full working days in advance, better two to three weeks ahead.
• ID: ID card or passport in the original. Copies, photos on your phone or a driver’s license are not enough. If you are not from the EU, you need a passport.
• Cameras: Photo and video devices are strictly prohibited on the Airbus grounds.
• Punctuality: Be at the meeting point 30 minutes before the start. If you are late, you lose your ticket.
• Combined ticket: Museum and factory tour can be booked at a combined rate if both take place on the same day.

The tour is available in French, English and Spanish, German only for groups subject to availability. According to the organizer, the factory tour is not wheelchair accessible.

Live spotting: test flights, deliveries and the BelugaXL

Aeroscopia itself is not a spot for lots of movements. The museum lies north of the runways, and from the grounds you see traffic at best at a distance. For real spotter pictures you go to the west side of the airport – from the museum that is a short drive.

The airport has two parallel runways: 14R/32L at about 3,500 meters and 14L/32R at about 3,000 meters. The rule of thumb according to a spotter guide: scheduled and cargo traffic mainly uses 14L/32R, test and factory flights by Airbus and ATR use 14R/32L. That is exactly why the spots on the west side are so sought after.

• Spotter hill on Avenue Latécoère: the most popular spot. You see landings on 14R/32L, line-ups on the parallel runway and aircraft being towed to final assembly. You have good light from midday until sunset.
• Lay-by at the delivery center: right next to the hill. Freshly painted aircraft stand here shortly before handover to the airline – ideal for rare customers and new colors. Parking is not allowed at the lay-by itself, so leave your car at the hill.
• Spots in the southeast on the approaches to 32L and 32R: more for scheduled traffic in the afternoon. According to a spotter guide, some parking bays have since been partly walled up, so check the current status on site.

In scheduled traffic, easyJet, Volotea and Air France dominate, plus network airlines from all over Europe. The real spice, though, is the factory movements: test aircraft with F-W registrations, new aircraft in customer colors, Airbus house liveries and the BelugaXL, which brings fuselage and wing sections from other plants to Toulouse. How to recognize manufacturer liveries is explained in the article House liveries of Airbus, Boeing and Embraer.

One detail for planning: in August Airbus takes a production break for a few weeks, and far fewer test flights are in the air then. According to a spotter guide, Beluga traffic continues even on holidays when production is idle.

Getting there: tram, car and bike

By car you take the Voie Lactée and use the exit aeroscopia. At the museum there is a parking lot with about 150 spaces, and motorhomes fit too. For switching to the spots on the west side, the car is clearly the best choice.

By tram you get there comfortably: line T1 stops at the Beauzelle Aeroscopia station and connects Blagnac with downtown Toulouse. To the spotting locations around the runways, on the other hand, there are hardly any useful public transit connections. If you are traveling without a car, you are best off bringing a bike or renting one.

If you arrive by plane, you land right at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport – so your arrival is the first spotting opportunity.

How a good day in Toulouse goes

Who Aeroscopia is for

If you want to keep exploring France’s aviation history, head to Paris: the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace at Paris-Le Bourget Airport also shows Concordes and is one of the largest collections in Europe. In England, Aerospace Bristol is the British counterpart with the last Concorde built, and in the Netherlands the Aviodrome in Lelystad is worth a visit. And if you want to experience Airbus in Germany too, you’ll find tips in the article Spotting Airbus Finkenwerder.

Rules in the museum and at the fence

In the museum the operator’s house rules apply. Be considerate of other visitors, especially in the cramped cabins of the Concorde and A380, and if in doubt ask at the ticket desk whether tripods or flash are allowed. On the Airbus factory grounds the matter is clear: no cameras, no video devices.

Conclusion

Aeroscopia is not a place for high movement counts but for aircraft with history. Two Concordes, the first A320, the first A340-600 and an A380 test aircraft you can walk through – you won’t find a row like this anywhere else. On top of that comes the location right next to the Airbus final assembly line, which makes the museum the natural starting point for the factory tour and a spotting day.

The museum knows its own limits: for test flights, deliveries and the BelugaXL you have to go to the west side of the airport. With a car, a booked tour and a look at the flight tracker, it becomes the most complete aviation day you can experience in France.