World’s largest jet set for touchdown

A few minutes past midnight on Thursday, the deafening roar of six mighty engines of this behemoth-Antonov An-225 Mriya-could throw many out of their beds in Hyderabad, but as the world’s largest aircraft touches down for the first time in the country, it will be a sight which every inveterate aviation enthusiast will savour.

The An-225 Mriya (Dream in Ukrainian) will stopover at GMR owned R.G.I Shamshabad airport, Hyderabad, for 20 hours for refuelling and rest for the crew and cargo attendants during its flight from Prague to Perth with 130 tonnes of energy equipment for a Western Australian mining company. Up to 50,000 people are expected at Perth airport next Sunday to watch the maiden flight of this gigantic aircraft land in Australia, said Mr Rishabh Birla, managing director, Air Shagoon (Network) Pvt. Ltd.

“We got all the clearances from DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation) which are completely different because of the large wing span and the area required for parking on its arrival from Turkmen-bashi in Central Asia. The Shamshabad Airport was chosen for the halt based on several factors such as the length of the runway, ground manoeuvring area, technical facilities, air traffic density and proximity to the trans-continental air route,” Mr Birla said. He said 120 tonnes of fuel would be load up before the aircraft takes off in the wee hours of Saturday for Jakarta en route to Perth.

Soon after its touchdown, the ambassador of Ukraine and a host of dignitaries, and representatives of GMR and Air Shagoon would welcome the 20-member crew and six cargo attendants.

Mr Rishabh Birla said his company has also handled smaller version of this aircraft — An 124 — for several years to airlift turbines, generators, military equipment, including helicopter engines, averaging four to five flights every month for big-ticket firms like Toshiba, L&T and Reliance Ltd.

The An-225 was originally designed to transport Energia’s rocket boosters and the Buran Space Shuttle of the Russian space programme in the ‘80s, with Nato code name “Cossack”.

It was mothballed for eight years on completion of Soviet military missions, and later refurbished and re-introduced for commercial operations. It has since notched 240 world records, including transportation of the heaviest cargo with mass of 253 tonnes and two 42-metre-long test wind turbine blades. The aircraft has such a spacious cargo compartment that a Boeing 737 aircraft could be accommodated and airlifted across continents.