World’s largest aircraft, Antonov An-225 lands in Mattala

18 Apr, 2018

The world’s largest aircraft, Antonov An-225 Mriya, landed at the Mattala Airport today for refuelling.

The aircraft arrived in Sri Lanka from Malaysia where it had made its?first commercial flight after undergoing upgrades for over a year.

The Antonov An-225 pilot, Antonov Dmytrov had told the Bernama news agency earlier that Malaysia was the plane’s third stop after Leipzig, Germany and Dammam, Saudi Arabia to deliver heavy cargo.

The aircraft was grounded in Kiev for more than a year for upgrading purposes and took off for the first time on April 3.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya is powered by six turbofan engines and is the heaviest aircraft ever built, with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes (710 short tons). It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service.??(Colombo Gazette)

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