The Antonov An-225 was the heaviest and longest operational aircraft in the world. It was built during the 1980s to serve a specific purpose within the USSR space program, but has gone on to serve a niche role carrying the heaviest of payloads. Sadly, almost a year ago, the giant aircraft was destroyed during an attack on Hostomel Airport, where the 'Mriya' was parked.Prior to the damage, the An-225 had been refurbished and was expected to remain in service until at least 2033. Unconfirmed reports surfaced on February 24, 2022, suggesting it had been damaged, and Ukraine confirmed this on February 27. By early March, video footage had emerged of the damaged aircraft, and the extent of the disaster became apparent.

The An-225 was barely recognizable in the footage, with the nose languishing on the ground and the fuselage burnt and charred. Ukraine was incredibly proud of the Mriya and took the destruction of its unique plane as a very personal and painful attack. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to rebuild the airplane in memory of the pilots who have died in the conflict, a project he estimates to come with an $800 million price tag.

As we near the anniversary of the destruction of the An-224, let's take a look back at what was and, potentially, one day could be again.

The world’s heaviest plane

There are several ways that you can measure the largest aircraft in the world. By passenger volume, of course, it is the Airbus A380. By fuselage volume, it is the Airbus Beluga XL.

The Airbus Beluga XL

But the Antonov An-225 tops the list in a few areas. It is the heaviest aircraft ever built and can carry the highest payload. It has an empty weight of 285 tonnes and a payload of 250 tonnes. It is also the longest at 84 meters, beating the new 777-9 by almost eight meters. And it has the largest wingspan of any commercially operational aircraft, although the Stratolaunch beats it there. If that’s not enough – it also has 32 wheels and six engines.

The Antonov An-225
Photo: Dubai Airports

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Built for a specific purpose

The Antonov An-225, also known as ‘Mriya’ (meaning ‘dream’), was built by the USSR (within the Ukrainian SSR) in the 1980s. At the time, the USSR was developing a reusable space vehicle known as Buran - similar to the US Space Shuttle. Construction of the Buran spacecraft began in 1980, and it flew once only in 1988. It was launched using a single-use rocket called ‘Energia.’

Just like the US Space Shuttle, Buran needed to be moved from the construction site to its launch area and recovered after its return. The An-225 was designed and built for this purpose. It could transport the Buran spacecraft on top of its fuselage, with internal space used for parts of the rocket.

The US used a similar solution, of course. NASA had two Shuttle Carrier aircraft developed from the Boeing 747. These had both previously been in service with airlines and underwent extensive modifications.

The first was a 747-100, acquired from American Airlines, which entered service in 1977. The second was a 747-100SR, previously used by Japan Airlines on its high-capacity domestic routes. It first flew with NASA in 1991. The Shuttle Carriers remained in service until 2012, and both aircraft have been preserved in US museums.

NASA Shuttle Carrier Boeing 747
Photo: Carla Thomas, NASA/DFRC via Wikimedia

Based on the An-124 aircraft

The An-225 was developed as an enlarged version of the already operational An-124. This was, likewise, designed by Antonov during the 1980s and first flew in 1982. It entered service two years before the An-225 in 1986 and remains one of the largest aircraft still flying today.

Today, 21 An-124 aircraft are in active use (according to data from ch-aviation.com). Six of these are operated by Ukrainian airline Antonov Airlines, eight by Russian airline Volga-Dnepr, six by Voyennaya Transportnaya Aviatsiya and one by UAE-based Maximus Air Cargo. The Russian Air Force operates the rest. They fly regular cargo missions all over the world, carrying the most outsized cargo imaginable.

Antonov Airlines An-124
Photo: Antonov Airlines

Designing the An-225

Basing the design on the An-124 saved development time and cost. The same fuselage structure and engines (Progress D-18T engines) were used. Engines were increased to six, and the fuselage was extended by around 15 meters.

To remove weight and better handle the top-loaded payload, Anotonov removed the rear cargo access. But it retained the same opening nose and the lowering nose gear, which allows the aircraft to ‘kneel’ to load cargo. You can see this in action in the video below.

Engineers also changed the tail design from the An-124. The single vertical stabilizer was switched to a twin tail, with two vertical stabilizers and a larger horizontal stabilizer. This would provide better handling with the large payload on top of the aircraft.

An-225 Antonov parked at an airport
Photo: OPIS Zagreb / Shutterstock

Construction of the fuselage, tail, and the final assembly took place at Antonov’s facilities in Kyiv. The wings and wing center were built by the state-owned Uzbekistan company Valerii Chkalov in Tashkent and transported to Kyiv using the An-22 transporter.

In service with Antonov Airlines

The Buran spacecraft only flew once on an unmanned launch. It successfully returned, but planned future launches never took place. The collapse of the USSR led to the suspension of the space program. Two further orbiters were never completed, and the one existing Buran was stored in Kazakhstan. It was destroyed when a hangar roof collapsed in 2002.

The An-225 suffered a similar decline – at least initially. After use for the first Buran flight, it made appearances at the Paris Air Show in 1989 and the Farnborough Air Show in 1990. It went into storage in 1994, with the six engines removed and re-used on An-124 aircraft.

By the late 1990s, Antonov Airlines saw potential in returning it to service as a freighter capable of carrying larger payloads than the An-124. Engines were re-installed, and the cabin floor and nose ramp were strengthened (as the original design was to carry an external payload). It returned to operations in February 2001.

Antonov An-225 at Dubai
Photo: Dubai Airports

There is a second aircraft

Two An-225 were originally ordered, but only one aircraft (with registration CCCP-82060, later changed to UR-82060) was completed. The first was under construction when the Buran project ended and was never completed.

Ukrainian Antonov Airlines also took ownership of the second aircraft but did not continue construction. Work started again in 2009 and took it to around 60 to 70% complete. There was interest in 2016 from China and reports about a potential sale to the Airspace Industry Corporation of China.

It remains unfinished, and according to comments from Antonov Airline’s CEO Oleksander Donets in 2020, it most likely will never be completed.

Completion remains very expensive, and it is unlikely that anyone would recover the costs with its limited potential operations – despite the increase in freight traffic recently. Donets said:

“According to estimates made in 2012, when our relations with (Russia) were good, (the costs of construction) has reached nearly $460 million for the old specifications it was built with….. Most importantly, nearly 35 percent of (the world’s) airports can’t provide landing space (for Mriya). Because of its dimensions and wingspan, it doesn’t fit runway strips… We will not recoup the costs.”

The An-225 was brought back into service to use for outsize cargo charters. This was, of course, a niche market. But with the highest payload possibility of any freighter available, it is something that clients will pay for.

The single aircraft was owned and operated by Antonov Airlines. It had seen operating partnerships with UK-based Air Foyle HeavyLift and Russian cargo operator Volga-Dnepr Airlines (which operates the largest commercial fleet of An-124 aircraft still in service).

An-225
The An-225 carried medical supplies to Germany in 2020. Photo: Getty Images

Plenty of charters

Since its introduction, the airplane secured many interesting charters each year. These included plenty of oversize, heavy cargo missions such as moving huge generators and construction equipment, military equipment, and large humanitarian loads. If you are wondering about the cost of chartering it, the BBC estimated it to be around $30,000 per hour in its analysis.

Some of the more interesting include:

  • One of its first missions was to fly food from Germany to an American military base in Oman, in January 2002. It carried 187.5 tonnes of prepared meals for troops.
  • In June 2004, it flew with four pipe-laying machines from Prague to Tashkent, setting a payload record of 247 tonnes.
  • It set the record for the heaviest single cargo item in August 2009 – flying a 189-tonne generator to Armenia for implementation in a gas power plant.
  • It carried the longest-ever air cargo in June 2010 – two 41.2-meter wind turbine blades - from China to Denmark.
  • It has set multiple records for outsized cargo, and for its own sheer size.
An-225 cargo
Photo: Antonov Airlines

Future of the An-225

With the world's only An-225 now resting in pieces - literally - hopes of ever seeing the airplane in action again are slim. Although the Ukrainian government wants to rebuild the giant aircraft, it will require significant investment to do so. Given the many other rebuilding projects and reinstatement of infrastructure that Ukraine will require once this terrible war eventually ends, those funds are unlikely to be available anytime soon.

An-225 destroyed
Photo: Dmytro Larin / Shutterstock

Nevertheless, Antonov did leave a wonderful legacy of the An-225 for those who wish to get up close and personal with the jet. Via Google Maps, enthusiasts can take a 3D tour of the cargo bay and crew areas, which is something special indeed. And to experience the aircraft in flight, the Antonov company has teamed up with Microsoft and iniBuids to recreate the world's largest plane for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

It's not quite the same as experiencing this huge airplane in real life, but it's the closest we'll get for some time.

The An-225 is an amazing aircraft that filled a niche role. Did you ever see it in action? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.

Sources: BBC