The Antonov An-225 ‘Mryia’ is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft, designed by the Soviet Union’s Antonov Design Bureau in the 1980s. The An-225’s name, Mriya means ‘Dream’ in Ukrainian. It is powered by six turbofan engines and was until recently the longest and heaviest aircraft ever made with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes. It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service. The single example built bears the civil registration UR-82060 of its Ukrainian operator. A second airframe was partially built; its completion has been halted due to lack of funding and interest.
The Antonov An-225, originally developed specifically to transport the Buran spaceplane was an enlargement of the successful Antonov An-124. The first An-225 was completed in 1988 and remains in commercial operation with Antonov Airlines carrying oversized payloads. The airlifter holds the absolute world records for an airlifted single item payload of 189,980 kilograms (418,834 pounds), and an airlifted total payload of 253,820 kilograms (559,577 pounds). It has also transported a payload of 247,000 kilograms (545,000 pounds) on a commercial flight.
