Yep, I see Belugas flying over Hamburg nearly every week, as they deliver or take away parts from the assembly in Finkenwerder. It's great to see those planes gliding across the Elbe river, always looks amazing.
I am still sad that I missed the Beluga during my internship at Munich Airport in air freight. My boss really should have called me, even at midnight. But then I heard some strange stories afterwards about that flight that might explain why it was done with a limited number of people at the dead of night. Never found out how much was rumors and how much fact so. I did have the opportunity to load a Antonov 124 so. That was fun!
What rumors? Come on!
Something with a hole in the tail of an aircraft, big enough to fly a new tail in over night. As I said, rumors. And those always flew high while I was there. Or maybe it was story told to a poor intern to not have him feel bad about having missed a Beluga. Your guess is as good as mine.
"Parts delivery from Hamburg" is a thing I hear repeatedly month-after-month from the repair, purchasing, and inventory departments. Small world.
Hamburg has one of the world's largest ports, second only to Rotterdam in Europe. Maybe there's a connection here?