Antonov Airlines
Antonov Airlines is an Ukrainian cargo airline, a division of the Antonov aviation company. It operates international charter services in the oversized-cargo market. Its main base is Hostomel Airport near Kiev.[1] The company owns the only completed Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world's largest operational cargo aircraft.
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1989 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Hostomel Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 10 | ||||||
| Parent company | Antonov | ||||||
| Headquarters | Kiev, Ukraine | ||||||
| Net income |  | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
History
The airline was established and started operations in 1989 through a marketing agent agreement with Air Foyle to market Antonov An-124 Ruslan cargo charters worldwide. This relationship ended in June 2006. The same month Antonov Airlines and another large player in the global specialty air cargo business, Volga-Dnepr Airlines (Russia), established a joint venture company – Ruslan International[2] — where each company has a 50% stake. The joint operation of the Ukrainian and Russian fleets allows them to share the combined An-124-100 commercial fleet of seventeen aircraft (seven of which belong to Antonov Airlines)[3] and the only Antonov An-225 in service worldwide – the largest cargo aircraft in the world.[4]
In 2017 Antonov Airlines opened a United Kingdom office at London Stansted Airport, with a first flight in February by an Antonov An-124 Ruslan.[5]
Notable operations
- An 88-ton water turbine for the Tashtakumska Hydroelectric Plant from Kharkiv to Tashkent;
- Civil engineering vehicles to deal with the consequences of the earthquake in Spitak, Armenia;
- Vehicles and systems for resolving the Persian Gulf crisis (mine clearance bulldozers, mobile electric stations, special mine, and oil-clearing boats, humanitarian assistance);[6]
- A 135.2 ton Siemens generator from Düsseldorf, Germany, to Delhi, India, was air-lifted by an An-124;[7]
- Nuclear fuel in special containers from Habaniya, Iraq, to Yekaterinburg, Russia, under the United Nations program for disarmament of Iraq;
- A 102-ton locomotive from London, Ontario, Canada, to Dublin, Ireland;[8][9]
- A 70-ton generator was flown to Lahore, Pakistan, from Doncaster Robin Hood, United Kingdom, for power station needs;
- A 140-ton generator was flown from Zagreb, Croatia, to Cebu, Philippines for replacement on one of two generators which was hit by lightning.[10]
- A 187.6 ton power plant generator from Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, Germany, to Yerevan, Armenia (listed in the Guinness Book of Records[11])
- A 95-ton Putzmeister concrete pump from the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, United States, to Japan to assist with the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant[12]
- On 20 July 2015 a 76-ton single piece electrical transformer was flown from Shenyang Taoxian International Airport, China, to Karachi, Pakistan, for Quaid-e-Azam solar park power project.
Fleet
The Antonov Airlines fleet comprises the following aircraft (as of August 2016):[13]
| Aircraft | In Fleet |
Orders | Registration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonov An-22A Antei | 1 | — | UR-09307 | |
| Antonov An-26-100 | 1 | — | UR-13395 | |
| Antonov An-28 | 1 | — | UR-NTE | |
| Antonov An-74T-100 | 1 | — | UR-74010 | |
| Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan | 3 | — | UR-82029/UR-82072/UR-82073 | UR-82072 : old livery |
| Antonov An-124-100M Ruslan | 4 | — | UR-82007/UR-82008/UR-82009/UR-82027 | |
| Antonov An-178 | 1 | — | UR-EXP | |
| Antonov An-225 Mriya | 1 | — | UR-82060 | |
| Total | 13 | |||
The airline's fleet previously included the following aircraft (as of 2009):[14]
- 3 further Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan
- 1 Antonov An-22 Antaeus
- 2 Antonov An-12 (Stored)
- 1 Antonov An-26
- 1 Antonov An-74
Antonov Airlines also operated the following aircraft for the Antonov Design Bureau:
- 1 Antonov An-28 (Antonov Design Bureau)
- 1 Antonov An-32 (Antonov Design Bureau)
- 3 Antonov An-140 (Antonov Design Bureau)
- 2 Antonov An-148 (Antonov Design Bureau)
References
- "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 27 March 2007. p. 76.
- Flight International 27 March 2007
- "Company Profile". Volga-dnepr.com. 27 December 2006. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014.
- a maximum take-off weight of over 600 tonnes and the plane with the widest wing-span, at 88.4 m (290 ft) http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-5000/heaviest-item-airlifted/
- "UK office handles Antonov Airlines charter". aircargonews. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/08/17/331063/video-worlds-largest-aircraft-an-225-emerges-to-set-new-lift-record.html
- "Antonov's Giant: the An-124 Ruslan". www.aircraftinformation.info.
- "looking at Irish rail past and today". Archived from the original on 20 May 2015.
- "World's biggest plane to deliver 140-ton power generator to PHL | SciTech | GMA News Online". Gmanetwork.com. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
- "Heaviest item airlifted".
- Pavey, Rob (31 March 2011). "SRS pump will head to Japan | The Augusta Chronicle". Chronicle.augusta.com.
- "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part Two)". Airliner World (November 2016): 35.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 December 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
