The Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world’s largest aircraft, has been intensely called upon in the past few weeks to participate in coronavirus COVID-19 relief efforts around the world. After one medical supply mission to Montreal Mirabel, Canada, the aircraft found itself grounded due to a technical issue in one of its engines.
The aircraft, chartered by Nolinor Aviation, was carrying out flight ADB3398 with a cargo of 130 tonnes of protective gowns for the Canadian government. It flew from Tianjin (TSN), China, and made two stopovers, one in Nagoya (NGO), Japan, and one in Anchorage (ANC), Alaska. It landed at the International Aerocity of Mirabel (YMX), in Montreal, Canada, on May 23, 2020. It took no less than 10 trucks and about 12 hours of work to unload the aircraft.
Since then, the mastodon has been grounded in Mirabel, as an issue with the fuel pump of the engine number 4 has been detected. Spare parts and a technical team were chartered from the Antonov Airport (GML) in Hostomel, Ukraine, using an Antonov Airlines AN-74T.
Antonov 225 will be repaired tonight and will leave at 8:00 am local from MirAbel on May 26th. #nolinor #nolinoraviation #Antonov225 #antonov #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/KLjtHKndnC
— Nolinor Aviation (@nolinoraviation) May 25, 2020
“After replacement of the failed part the AN-225 aircraft continued the commercial program today, 26th of May,” a representative of Antonov Airlines told AeroTime. For its next mission, Mriya should transport 114 tones of medical supplies including masks, personal protective equipment, sewing machines, from Tianjin to Toronto.
(Credit: © Antonov Airlines)
The Antonov An-225 Mriya started participating in the coronavirus crisis effort on April 14, 2020, when it carried a flight chartered by Chapman Freeborn Airchartering ‒ the first for the AN-225 after maintenance and modernization performed by Antonov Company. A week later, the super-sized transporter broke the record for cargo volume transported by air twice.
With an MTOW of 600 metric tons and a hold volume of 1,300 cubic meters, the unique plane is the perfect asset for such relief efforts.