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| Founded | April 1989 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Leipzig/Halle Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8-10* (5 active, refer to fleet summary) | ||||||
| Parent company | Antonov | ||||||
| Headquarters | Kyiv, Ukraine | ||||||
| Website | antonov.com | ||||||
Antonov Airlines is a 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 Kyiv. In the aftermath of the Battle of Hostomel Airport, Antonov relocated its remaining aircraft to Leipzig/Halle Airport.
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 – Rusland International [1] — 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 (twelve of which belong to Antonov Airlines). [2] 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. [3]
At the outbreak of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the An-225 Mriya was at its home base of Antonov Airport in Hostomel undergoing an engine swap. [4] [5] During the Battle of Antonov Airport the site was captured by the Russians, and the An-225 was destroyed. [6] [7] UkrOboronProm said that: "The restoration is estimated to take over 3 billion USD and over five years. Our task is to ensure that these costs are covered by the Russian Federation, which has caused intentional damage to Ukraine's aviation and the air cargo sector." [4] [7] Other Antonov Airlines aircraft were diverted to Leipzig/Halle Airport upon completion of commercial missions, from where the airline continued operations with five An-124 aircraft. [8] [9]
The Antonov Airlines fleet comprises the following aircraft (as of 5 April 2022 [update] ): [18] [19] [20] [8]
| Aircraft | In fleet | Orders | Registration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonov An-22A Antei | 1 | — | UR-09307 | In Kyiv during attacks, damaged [9] |
| Antonov An-28 | 1 | — | UR-NTE | Sustained minor damage inside hangar [9] |
| Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan | 2–3* (2 active) | — | UR-82029 UR-82072 UR-82073 | UR-82073 in Kyiv during attacks, condition unknown |
| Antonov An-124-100M Ruslan | 4 (3 active) | — | UR-82007 UR-82008 UR-82009 UR-82027 | UR-82009 in Kyiv during attacks, damaged inside hangar during refit. [9] [21] [22] [23] [24] |
| Antonov An-178 | ? | — | UR-EXP | Condition unknown |
| Total | 8–10* (5 active) | |||
*Cannot give the exact size of fleet until condition of all the aircraft is confirmed.
The following Antonov Airlines aircraft were destroyed in 2022 during the Battle of Hostomel Airport: [8]
The airline's fleet previously included the following aircraft (as of 2009 [update] ): [26]
Antonov Airlines also operated the following aircraft for the Antonov Design Bureau:[ citation needed ]
Antonov Company, formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov, and earlier the Antonov Design Bureau, for its chief designer, Oleg Antonov, is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company. Antonov's particular expertise is in the fields of very large aeroplanes and aeroplanes using unprepared runways. Antonov has built a total of approximately 22,000 aircraft, and thousands of its planes are operating in the former Soviet Union and in developing countries.
Air Foyle HeavyLift was an aviation company based in Bishop's Stortford, United Kingdom. It specialised in heavy air cargo services. It was the worldwide sales agent for Antonov Airlines of Kyiv, Ukraine. This relationship ceased in June 2006, and Antonov Airlines now operates a joint venture marketing company Ruslan International with Volga-Dnepr JS Cargo Airlines of Russia.
Volga-Dnepr Airlines, LLC is an airline based in Ulyanovsk, Russia. It specializes in providing air charter services through all-cargo aircraft certified for global operations. Volga-Dnepr Airlines serves governmental and commercial organizations in the petrochemical, energy, aerospace, agriculture, and telecommunications industries well as humanitarian and emergency service organizations with its services through its 17 aircraft fleet. Its main base is Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport (ULY), Ulyanovsk and it has a hub at Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport (KJA), Krasnoyarsk. The airline also operates an operations base in Houston, Texas, USA at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The Antonov An-225 Mriya was a strategic airlift cargo aircraft designed and produced by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union.
The Antonov An-124 Ruslan is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrainian SSR, then part of the Soviet Union (USSR). The An-124 is the world's second heaviest gross weight production cargo airplane and heaviest operating cargo aircraft, behind the destroyed one-off Antonov An-225 Mriya and the Boeing 747-8. The An-124 remains the largest military transport aircraft in service.
The Antonov An-22 "Antei" is a heavy military transport aircraft designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Powered by four turboprop engines each driving a pair of contra-rotating propellers, the design was the first wide-body transport aircraft and remains the world's largest turboprop-powered aircraft to date. The An-22 first appeared publicly outside the Soviet Union at the 1965 Paris Air Show. Thereafter, the model saw extensive use in major military and humanitarian airlifts for the Soviet Union, and is still in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The Antonov An-26 is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.
The Antonov An-28 is a twin-engined light turboprop transport aircraft, developed from the Antonov An-14M. It was the winner of a competition against the Beriev Be-30, for use by Aeroflot as a short-range airliner. It first flew in 1969. A total of 191 were built and 16 remain in airline service as at August 2015. After a short pre-production series built by Antonov, it was licence-built in Poland by PZL-Mielec. In 1993, PZL-Mielec developed its own improved variant, the PZL M28 Skytruck.
CJSC «Polet Airlines» was an airline based in Voronezh, Russia. It operated a worldwide cargo and domestic passenger charter services from Voronezh, as well as regional passenger and cargo services from Sokol. It was one of two airlines which flew the Antonov An-124 Ruslan, the world's highest gross weight cargo airplane which specialises in oversized freight. Its collapse, over lease payments for these massive aircraft, left only the Volga-Dnepr Airlines/Antonov Airlines joint partnership in this market. Its main base was Chertovitskoye Airport, Voronezh. Polet is the Russian word for flight.
Ukraine Air Alliance is a cargo airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine. It operates services to Asia, Africa and Europe. Its main bases were Boryspil International Airport (KBP) and Zhuliany International Airport (IEV).
Antonov Airport, also known as HostomelAirport, is an international cargo airport and testing facility in Ukraine, located near Hostomel, which is a northwestern suburb of Kyiv.
Hostomel is a city in Bucha Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located northwest of the capital Kyiv. It hosts the administration of Hostomel settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: 18,466.
The Antonov An-74 is a Soviet/Ukrainian transport aircraft developed by Antonov. It is a variant of the An-72.
The PAK VTA ) is a Russian next-generation heavy military transport aircraft, currently under development by Ilyushin.
Viktor Tolmachev was a Russian engineer. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and chief designer of the Antonov An-124 Ruslan and An-225 Mriya transport aircraft.
On 13 November 2020, Volga-Dnepr Airlines Flight 4066 suffered an uncontained engine failure on take-off from Tolmachevo Airport, Novosibirsk, Russia for Vienna International Airport, Vienna, Austria. The aircraft was severely damaged, and was further damaged when it overran the runway on landing at Tolmachevo airport. The investigation into the accident is currently ongoing.
Many aviation-related events took place in 2022. Throughout the year, aviation industry was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Battle of Antonov Airport, also known as the battle of Hostomel Airport, was a military engagement which occurred at the Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast, during the Kyiv offensive of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Hero City of Ukraine is a Ukrainian honorary title awarded for outstanding heroism during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was awarded to ten cities in March 2022, in addition to four already-named Hero Cities of the Soviet Union. This symbolic distinction for a city corresponds to the distinction of Hero of Ukraine awarded to individuals.
The Antonov An-325 was a proposed evolution of the Antonov An-225 "Mriya", designed to launch spacecraft of various purposes into circular, elliptical and high-circle orbits, including geostationary orbit. It was planned to be an enlarged and improved version of the An-225, but was never built.
The airline operates a unique fleet of ramp aircraft comprising of 12 Antonov-124-100 'Ruslan' and five Ilyushin-76 freighter aircraft
A Ukrainian defense industry association said the AN-225 will be restored at Russia's expense, which it put at $3 billion. Rebuilding the plane would take five years, it said.
The enormous aircraft, named 'Mriya,' or 'dream' in Ukrainian, was parked at an airfield near Kyiv when it was attacked by 'Russian occupants,' Ukrainian authorities said, adding that they would rebuild the plane. 'Russia may have destroyed our 'Mriya'. But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. We shall prevail!' wrote Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Twitter. There has been no independent confirmation of the aircraft's destruction. A tweet from the Antonov Company said it could not verify the 'technical condition' of the aircraft until it had been inspected by experts
The pump was moved Wednesday from the construction site in Aiken County to a facility in Hanahan, S.C., for minor modifications, and was trucked to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where it was picked up by the world's largest cargo plane, the Russian-made Antonov 225, which flown it to Tokyo
Antonov Airlines has completed a unique cargo delivery of two Max Bögl TSB maglev trains from Munich, Germany to their customer Chengdu Xinzhu Road & Bridge Machinery Co. Ltd., Chengdu, China in cooperation with KN Airlift GmbH company
Media related to Antonov Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
