Joining the Antonov AN-22 ‘Antei’ aircraft – the world’s largest turboprop freighter – in the fleet of Antonov Airlines (See FTWO October 6 issue) at its new home in the Ukraine is the world’s largest aircraft ever. The Antonov An-225 ‘Mriya’ (dream or inspiration).
It is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft that was designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. According to Wikipedia, it is powered by six turbofan engines and is the longest and heaviest airplane ever built, with a maximum take-off weight of 640 tonnes. It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service.
The first and only example, built in 1982, has the Ukrainian civil registration UR-82060. A second airframe was partially built, but its completion was halted because of lack of funding and interest.
After successfully fulfilling its Soviet military missions, it was mothballed for eight years. It was then refurbished and re-introduced, and is in commercial operation with Antonov Airlines carrying oversized payloads.
(The airlifter holds the absolute world records for its total payload of 253 820 kilogrammes and for a single-item payload of 189 980kgs. It has also transported a record payload of 247 000kgs on a commercial flight.)
