Antonov AN-225 Mriya ( NATO codename “Cossack”) the World’s largest aircraft made first fly and operational testing after maintenance and downtime at Gostomel airport in Ukraine on 19 March.

The plane was at the airfield for about a year and passed the stage of repair and partial modernisation. Mikhail Kharchenko, director of Antonov Airlines, said that aircraft received an updated avionics and some new equipment.

After extended downtime, the operational status of aircraft systems, the aircraft configuration, and the airworthiness of the aircraft was verified by qualified ground personnel and the flight crew.

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The aircraft was piloted by Antonov chief pilot, Dmitry Antonov, he said that the flight went well and all equipment is operating normally. AN-225’s system performance and operation meeting the manufacturer’s specification requirements with all components in a serviceable condition and fully functional.

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The Antonov An-225 Mriya is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft that was designed by the Antonov Design Bureau during the 1980s. It is powered by six turbofan engines and is the heaviest aircraft ever built, with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes. It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service. The single example built has the Ukrainian civil registration UR-82060.

Mriya has set up 240 world records including transportation of the heaviest cargo with a mass of 253 tons, the heaviest single piece of cargo with a mass of 186,7 t as well as the longest cargo having a length of 42,1 m. But the main thing is that Mriya serves people reliably. The airplane repeatedly participated in humanitarian operations.