Antonov Airlines’ AN-225, the world’s largest and heaviest plane, was pulled 4.3 m in 73 seconds by eight Ukrainian strongmen two days after headlining Ukraine’s 30th Independence Day air show celebrations.
The weight of the AN-225 ‘Mriya’ aircraft including fuel was 328 tonnes on the day of the record. The AN-225, the only one of its kind, was pulled by a group of eight Ukrainian strongman athletes to set a national record.
“The record was set at our Kyiv-Antonov home airfield by eight of the strongest athletes in Ukraine and was certified as a record-breaking move by representatives of the National Register of Records of the country,” said Andriy Blagovisniy, commercial director, Antonov Airlines.
“Even after more than 30 years of service, Mriya – which means dream – is still keeping her spot in setting both national and world records.”
In the same week the AN-225 Mriya joined other aircraft for a fly-by over the main streets of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as part of Independence Day celebrations.
“The AN-225 flight over the centre of the capital was one of the highlights of this event because Mriya is the pride of Ukraine and the largest plane in the world; she impressed everyone watching her demonstration flight,” said Dmytro Antonov, Antonov Airlines’ chief pilot and captain, who flew the AN-255 on the day.
Ukrainian aircraft designed by the ANTONOV Company also took part in the fly-by, including the STOL transport AN-70.
Mriya was recently put back into commercial service to help with capacity shortages in the wake of pandemic needs.
Antonov Airlines’ fleet, based in Kyiv, Ukraine, includes seven AN-124-100 aircraft, two of which have been modified to accommodate up to 150 tonnes, as well as unique 250-tonne payload AN-225 Mriya, which is the largest aircraft in the world, a 60-tonne payload AN-22, and smaller AN-74 and AN-26 aircraft.
