The world’s three largest freighter aircraft lined up like three ducks in a row at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport.
In cargo terms, this airport is the fifth-busiest in Europe and, having handled 863 665 tonnes of cargo in 2015, the second-busiest in Germany after Frankfurt Airport. It serves as the main European hub for DHL Aviation and the main hub for AeroLogic. Also military installations have been built at the airport for Nato and EU military aircraft.
In the forefront of the photograph is the aviation giant, the Antonov AN-225 ‘Mrija’. This airlifter holds the absolute world records for an airlifted single-item payload of 189 980 kilograms and an airlifted total payload of 253 820kgs. It has also transported a payload of 247 000kgs on a commercial flight.
Behind and to the left is the Mrija’s “little’ sister - the AN-124. Little sister it may be, but for 30 years, until the arrival of the Boeing 747-8F, the An-124 was the world’s highest aircraft gross weight production cargo airplane and second heaviest operating cargo aircraft, behind its one-off sister. However, it still holds the proud title of the largest military transport aircraft in the world.
Behind and to the right is the AN-22. Powered by four turboprop engines, each driving a pair of contra-rotating propellers, the design was the first Soviet wide-body aircraft and remains the world’s largest turboprop-powered aircraft to date. She has a cargo space of 33 metres in length and a usable volume of 639m³. The An-22 has set a number of payload and payload-to-height world records.
