Hyderabad: The world’s largest cargo aircraft, Antonov An-225 Mriya, landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Friday.
Also called the Dream, it is powered by six turbo fan engines. It is the longest and the heaviest aircraft built with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes. Six-member crew operates the aircraft.
Hyderabad was chosen over other Indian airports as it has a very long runway, wider ground maneuvering area, technical facilities and proximity to the transcontinental air route.
The plane arrived from Turkmenbashi in central Asia at 2.19 a.m. for a day’s halt.
“Its purpose (to land in India) basically, they are carrying a special payload from Europe to Perth in Australia. I understand it’s an Australian government special cargo and it’s on its way. Its transit halt in Hyderabad is for a day. From here it goes to Jakarta and from there to Perth. So we are very happy that An-225 has visited Hyderabad,” said S.G.K. Kishore, the Chief Executive Officer of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited.
Reportedly, the plane is carrying a generator that weighs 116 tonnes.
The plane was developed to transport Soviet Buran space shuttle or other heavy cargos. An-225 can carry up to 250 tonnes of cargo as compared to 157 tonnes capacity of double-deck Airbus A–380, the largest passenger aircraft in service.
The plane was designed and constructed during 1984-1988 and has set many world records for transporting heavy cargos around the world.