KYIV, Apr. 9 (AP) – Ukrainian aviation workers have finished modernization of the world’s biggest airplane and plan to send it on its first test flight on April 17, an official said Monday.
The work was completed Sunday and the An-225 Mriya is presently undergoing ground tests, said Kostiantyn Lyshakov, executive director of Antonov Airlines.
The project was carried out by the Kyiv-based Antonov aviation design bureau and Ukraine’s Motor-Sych company. It cost the two companies up to dlrs 20 million, the Interfax news agency reported. Last year designers had said it would make its first flight in January.
The six-engine plane, which has a wingspan of 88.4 meters (291 feet), first flew in 1988 and was intended to transport the former Soviet Union’s Buran space shuttle. The plane was grounded after the Buran program was canceled.
Antonov officials expect the single rebuilt An-225 to be presented at the Le Bourget international aviation show in France in June. They are hoping that Mriya, capable of carrying 250 metric tons (275 tons) of cargo a distance of 4,500 kilometers (2,790 miles), will be in demand on the growing international market for non-standard cargo transportation.
