Toulouse in southwestern France is one of Europe's key hubs when it comes to commercial aircraft production. Airbus and ATR have facilities both at its famous Blagnac Airport (TLS) and elsewhere in the city. However, recently, another manufacturer, namely Antonov, stole the show with the rare visit of an An-74.

A rare visit

Over the weekend, Toulouse Blagnac Airport took to Twitter to share news of a recent rare visit with the world. While the facility is no stranger to famous aircraft, being home to the likes of Airbus's A380 and its Beluga outsize freighters, niche designs also catch the eye. This is certainly the case when it comes to the Antonov An-74.

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As seen in the tweet above, one of the things that makes the An-74 special is its curious high-mounted engine configuration. According to tracking data from FlightRadar24.com, this visually striking cargo aircraft came to Toulouse on November 28th, 2021. It flew there directly from Kyiv, taking just under four and a half hours.

Antonov An-74 Map
The An-74's journey to Toulouse took four hours and 28 minutes. Image: FlightRadar24.com 

The airport, and indeed the local Toulousian avgeek community, would surely have loved for the An-74 to stick around. However, the twinjet made something of a flying visit, and returned to Kyiv via the German cargo hub of Leipzig two days later. According to Toulouse Blagnac, the purpose of the An-74's trip there was to deliver spare parts for another Antonov jet, namely a larger An-124.

What is the An-74?

Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov specializes in the production of cargo aircraft. Its most famous designs are its largest, such as the An-124 and, of course, the six-engine An-225. However, its smaller designs also play a key role in transporting airfreight from place to place. The twin-engine An-74 is one such model.

The plane is actually a development of the An-72. Both designs feature distinctive high-mounted engines. However, the An-74 differs in the sense that it was designed specifically for use on unpaved runways in Arctic and Antarctic conditions. There are 17 different An-74 variants, including one with more traditional underwing engines.

Antonov, Turksat, SpaceX
An An-124 recently visited Toulouse as part of a satellite delivery flight to Florida. Photo: Antonov Airlines

As far as the An-74 that came to Toulouse to deliver spare An-124 parts is concerned, this particular aircraft is an An-74T with the registration UR-74010. According to data from ATDB.aero, it is more than 34 years old, having been built in September 1987. It last flew on January 6th, between Kyiv's Hostomel and Zhuliany airports.

Another recent Antonov visit in Toulouse

Just over a month after the An-74 visited Toulouse, the French aerospace hub was the site of another big story involving an Antonov cargo jet. This saw a colossal four-engine An-124 take off with a satellite onboard, which it flew to Florida for delivery to SpaceX. It made one stop on the way, namely at Portsmouth International Airport in New Hampshire.

What do you make of this rare visit? Have you ever seen an Antonov An-74 in action yourself? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!